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"One has to be cautious, though, because depression waxes and wanes on its own, and it's always hard when looking at a small number of people, whether it is the effect of the drug, or if it would go away anyway," said Robbins. "We have to make sure we are careful with the studies. There is a long history of people making claims about substances helping depression."
But, he warns, taking a drug for an off-label use can be dangerous -- and not only for Cheryl's health.
"I have delayed telling my story for so many years, and the main reason is because I am risking my ability to get this drug for my own well-being," she said. "It's a federal offense. RU-486 is a schedule 1 drug, the most controlled we have."
Cheryl, who is uninsurable except in an expensive high-risk pool, said she averages about $15,000 to $20,000 a year on her drugs. Her lucrative high-tech job allows her to medicate herself.
Scottish doctors plan on injecting fetal stem cells developed from a 12-week aborted child into the brains of stroke patients.
ReNeuron, the British biotechnology firm behind the project, are waiting to get final clearance for the surgery.
When they do, Dr Muir will inject the contents of a single vial of the stem cells into the brain of the successful volunteer.
According to a poll of Russians , 41% of country favors a complete abortion ban, up from 8% in 1998. Another 25% of the country only approves of "therapeutic" abortions. | <urn:uuid:acfbceeb-6598-4983-98ab-6deb351ea5fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jivinjehoshaphat.blogspot.com/2010/08/life-links-82310.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95583 | 338 | 1.570313 | 2 |
We are delighted to announce Firestone have become an Associate Member of the Efficient 20 programme. The Efficient 20 project is financed by Intelligent Energy Europe and Ruralnet Futures are leading all UK activity. It aims to identify methods to reduce fuel consumption in agricultural practices. Over 300 farms in 10 countries in Europe are about to start various pilots all aimed at improving fuel efficiency over the next two years. By ensuring you are using the appropriate tyre pressure can lead to both environmental and financial benefits for farmers including reduced soil compaction, a drastic increase in the life of the tyres and a reduction in the fuel consumption.
Firestone are the agricultural division of Bridgestone tyres, the largest tyre manufacturer in the world and we look forward to working closely with them as the project develops to learn more with regards to fuel efficient farming. We recently announced the launch of the worlds first agricultural tyre pressure calculator for a smartphone (download here) which will be used as the basis of the research and this is yet another exciting development in our partnership.
Any organisations interested in becoming Associate Members to the programme can contact us to learn more. | <urn:uuid:71ad852a-b8c1-4337-bc04-78fadd57cdf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ruralnetfutures.co.uk/tag/bridgestone/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951531 | 224 | 1.625 | 2 |
The same thing for Shawn Tizabi, who suffers with back pain and insomnia.
But an answer as to whether they and others who use medical marijuana will be able to have access to it legally in Fontana won't come any time soon.
The Fontana City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to enact a 45-day moratorium on the establishment and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries.
"Locally, there is no place for me to get my medication," said Smith, who has used marijuana for about seven years to ease the pain of her various ailments and help her insomnia.
Unlike prescription pills, marijuana does not make her feel ill. But with high gas prices and traffic congestion, the long drive to Los Angeles is more than a hassle, Smith told the City Council on Tuesday.
Tizabi has asked city officials about opening Helping Hands Collective Caregivers, a medical marijuana dispensary he would like to have in Fontana.
"There's tons of patients from different cities that don't have safe access," he said.
"It is used as a medicine," said Tizabi, of Rancho Cucamonga. "It is needed by patients in this community."
During the city's moratorium, city staff members will study regulating dispensaries if they are permitted. The city's development and zoning codes do not currently allow for such a business.
Meanwhile, there's also a conflict between
Mayor Mark Nuaimi questioned how it would be regulated, how to enforce those regulations, and where such a facility would go.
If he is allowed to open a dispensary, Tizabi said a registered nurse would check the physician's recommendation, not prescription, for marijuana before dispensing it. The facility would have cameras installed and security guards on-site.
Cities that allow dispensaries have seen an increase in burglaries, robberies and sales of illegal drugs in areas immediately surrounding the clinics, according to a Fontana staff report.
Yolanda Calderon, who has lived in the city since 1949, is worried about how the community would be affected.
"Fontana has taken great strides in improving its image and I'm very concerned that a medical marijuana facility will cause things like this to take place," she said.
Several California cities have banned clinics, including Ontario, Upland, Montclair and most recently Grand Terrace.
The city is set to discuss the issue again on May 24. | <urn:uuid:deb5b9b0-82ff-4ee9-8e61-eb899917c486> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redlandsdailyfacts.com/marijuana/ci_5647507 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973174 | 493 | 1.78125 | 2 |
|Walker, John R.|
From Concept to Operation, Study Guide
2012. 228 Pages, Softcover
ISBN 978-0-470-93045-8 - John Wiley & Sons
Restaurant owners will continue to turn to The Restaurant because it helps them gain the skills needed to master every challenge and succeed in this highly competitive and rewarding industry. Each chapter has been revised, updated, and enhanced with numerous industry examples, sidebars, charts, tables, photographs, and menus. Greater emphasis is placed on restaurant business plans, restaurant management, and restaurant operations. The themes of sustainability and sustainable restaurant management have been added throughout. New sections have also been included on purchasing meat, cocktails, and the early history of eating out. All of this information will help restaurant owners make the decisions necessary to build a thriving business. | <urn:uuid:52caf3b8-4fef-4c6b-b0a6-d255fc61650d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley-vch.de/publish/en/books/ISBN978-0-470-93045-8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921672 | 169 | 1.945313 | 2 |
We know that there are many ways to make charitable contributions to support the Newtown community. We would like to call your attention to our organization, Newtown Kindness, as our mission is to encourage and facilitate kindness. We believe that kindness should be a guiding principle of humanity. Participation can have long-term sustainable impacts on society.
We thought that you would be particularly interested in this endeavor as it provides a gentle way for this experience to have a positive influence on our children and at the same time teach them a valuable life skill. We understand that there are many levels of comprehension by our children, from those directly affected by this tragedy to those not aware of the situation at all. We also understand that it is an appropriate reaction for parents to desire to give back to Newtown as well as determine what level they would like their children to comprehend this tragedy.
This program is administered by family friend and Newtown resident, Aaron Carlson, and is supported by Joel and JoAnn Bacon, the parents of Charlotte.
Below are a few forms that you may print and use on your kindness journey: | <urn:uuid:1f17c31f-650e-441a-9d5f-ecba925e8b27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newtownkindness.org/lettertoparents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97453 | 217 | 1.679688 | 2 |
The library hosted the event which featured Interpretive Ranger Steve McCarty from the Etowah Indian Mounds in Cartersville. McCarty brought all kinds of tools and weapons to show the children, but he did not just show them, he demonstrated and explained how each tool would have been used. The tools ranged from spears, bows and arrows to bowls, necklaces, and furs.
The attendees appeared to hang on his every word as he told the stories of the progression of each tool. They learned how the culture went from hunting and gathering to growing crops as the civilization grew larger.
One of the children, Selena Waters, of Hiram, said her favorite part of the program was a demonstration of one of the weapons.
“My favorite part was the blow gun,” she said.
She should know as she had a front row seat — seated about four feet from the dart’s path as it hit a Styrofoam target.
It was easy to see the kids’ faces light up as they got to pass around axes, and touch a rabbit skin pelt.
Library children’s specialist Jessica Hollis organized the event.
“It gives students activities to do when school is out, and that is something parents have been asking for,” she said.
It was easy to see how true the statement was as children began filling the library for the event. But the kids were not the only ones enjoying the presentation — plenty of parents were glued in as well.
“It’s a great way to get some living history without having to go to the site to get it,” said Kerstin Liberty, of Dallas.
The program was right on the children’s level, and it seemed McCarty really loved and knew his topic.
McCarty said his favorite part about teaching the children is the interaction.
“When you ask a question and they answer and they ask questions and you answer, and you know they really understand, is great,” he said.
He presented the information in a way that was “friendly and easy to understand” which seemed designed to hold his audience’s attention.
McCarty urged all those present to make the drive to Cartersville to see the Etowah mounds and learn more about the Native American culture. The mounds, a part of Georgia State Parks and Historic Sites, are open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | <urn:uuid:0739aa9f-5a21-4573-bdc3-e5f38f16abcb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/20964055/article-Students-learn-about-Native-American-tools?instance=paulding | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985926 | 519 | 2.40625 | 2 |
This is America, and we almost mold our lives on making money. But usually, we make money because whatever it is we have to offer has become more valuable than when we first obtained it.
Yet, I think some of those ideals are lost as the original Galileo shuttlecraft from the original "Star Trek" hits the auction block. This prop has gone from being worth $3,000 in pretty decent shape (with some need for internal restoration), to nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
I hate to say that, because this is a piece of Star Trek history that I know many people -- from crew (maybe even cast) that have been a part of the franchise over the decades, and especially fans and collectors -- would have loved to preserve. But what is there to preserve?
The picture you see here with this column, courtesy of Kiko Auctions shows a large 24-foot prop that has certainly seen better days. Whether that's rust or simply the loss of paint on the exterior (really, the last of the original pieces of this prop), it's hard to tell. The sad part is, it's disgusting.
This isn't the first time I'm talking about this. In fact, the first time was at the end of May when I scolded careless people who destroy history. Around the same time I wrote that column, I received an e-mail from the owner telling me that I was a little too dramatic about how the piece aged in her more than 20-year possession of the prop.
In fact, she had restored it. And if you visit the Kiko Auction site, you can see video of some of that restoration.
But the restoration was never completed. And once that restoration project ended prematurely, the Galileo was left to rot.
How badly? The International Federation of Trekkers, which has given up its efforts to try and acquire the prop, were able to dig up some pictures they took just before the previous owner transferred the Galileo to the current owner. There are some weird markings on the photo, only because notations were made on the back of the actual photographs, and they bled through.
But take a look at the photos IFT has set up exclusively for Airlock Alpha. Some of the paint has faded, some cracks were forming in the outer hull, and the interior wood framework needed some TLC -- but all in all, the piece looks pretty good.
And amazing enough, it only sold for $3,000 -- which if adjusted for inflation from 1988 is just a little over $5,800.
But now, the current owner feels that this decaying prop -- on a trailer that probably can't even move, by the way -- has increased in value by more than 730 percent? And that's just to meet the reserve. The actual expectation is that this prop would move for $100,000 -- a profit of more than 3,000 percent. That would mean that for every year that the owner allowed this prop to sit and decay, she would more than double her initial investment.
Wow. Capitalism, I guess?
Maybe I am not one of those crazy collectors. In fact, I was at Metrocon in Tampa, Fla., over the weekend, and some of the prizes I was giving away were old autographed photos I have received over the years from the likes of George Takei and Kate Mulgrew. I am not very sentimental about things like that, and while I would love to see props from the original "Star Trek" preserved -- there is a limit to that desire. And I think the Galileo, at least for me, has gone far, far beyond that.
I guess I am just flabbergasted about how someone who would spend the time and money to purchase and then transport this prop cross-country would allow it to then sit and rot. And then hope to pick up 30 times what she originally paid for it.
I wish the prop had seen a better life than this. And while it pains me to see someone profit from such neglect, I do hope that the Galileo will find a far better home than what it has now.
About the Author | <urn:uuid:b5baa293-e06e-47f4-9d45-2a25986e7f97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/9204/node/9187/scifriday-acting-is-usually-about-being-someone-else.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981731 | 849 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Vitality, Optimism Characterize Afghanistan Today
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
KABUL, Afghanistan, March 16, 2005 Vitality and optimism are the most striking changes in today's Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today.
Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers visited Afghan leaders and American servicemembers here.
The chairman first visited the country in December 2001, soon after Kabul fell to a force of Afghan fighters and American Special Forces soldiers. "Every time I come back, the economic activity is obvious and a sure sign that there is progress in security and stability and in economic growth," Myers said during a joint interview with the commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, Army Lt. Gen. David Barno.
Myers said the leaders of the Afghan government are optimistic that they can address the problems that still confront the nation. The general said that he has seen optimism grow with each visit. "When I first came ... in December 2001, there was a lot more uncertainty in the air than there is today," he said.
Since then, Afghans have written a constitution, elected a president under that constitution, and set parliamentary elections for the summer. Also, 22,000 soldiers in the Afghan National Army have been trained and deployed.
The Afghan government has established good working relationships with its neighbors, especially Pakistan, the chairman said. "Security is exceptionally good throughout the country," he said.
But not everything is rosy; dangerous areas still exist in Afghanistan, and coalition forces continue to hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and die-hard remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban in the country.
The opium/heroin problem in Afghanistan is serious and "could destabilize the country if not dealt with," Myers said. But, he said, there is a willingness in the government to deal with the problem.
"The way the government here and the international community is attacking the next big strategic problem we have -- the drug problem -- is cause for optimism as well," the chairman said.
Afghanistan will need help from the international community to deal with this very serious problem, Barno added. Barno, who is due to turn over command in Afghanistan, has served in the country for 18 months. He said he was "most impressed to watch and be a part of ... the dramatic growth of the democratic political process here."
The United Nations believed that perhaps 5 million Afghans would register to vote; instead, about 10.5 million did. "Then 8 million-plus Afghans coming out to vote in their first-ever presidential election in October was an incredible event, and exceeded many expectations, and certainly set a high mark for last year being a turning point," Barno said.
Myers said the time it took to effect such change is small, noting that it has taken just over three years for the Afghan people to make tremendous progress. "We're here to assist them and keep that progress moving forward and helping them in any way we can," he said.
But it is not just the United States helping Afghanistan. NATO plays an important and growing part in stability operations in Afghanistan. NATO commands the International Security Assistance Force in and around Kabul, and that force is expanding to the western portion of the country. NATO troops will patrol right up to the Iranian border.
NATO will also establish four more provincial reconstruction teams in the western part of Afghanistan. Once that is finished, NATO would like to move into the southern part of the country and eventually the east, Myers said.
"Every trend line in Afghanistan is going up, and going up at a great rate," the chairman said. "As much as you'd like to stand here and take credit for that, it really belongs to the Afghan people, who are industrious and seized the opportunity for a better future for themselves and their families."
Both Myers and Barno said that international commitment is crucial to maintaining the momentum for success in Afghanistan. "If this were a 10-mile race, Afghanistan is at mile three," Barno said. "There's a long way to go before the finish line." | <urn:uuid:93f3ffbd-c9f9-4e6e-868f-89f01122fd4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.defense.gov/News/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=31191 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974652 | 841 | 1.726563 | 2 |
107. William Cotton Hawgood was born in Dec 1847 in Daventry.(12) xv 208 He was Marriage in GRO index in Dec 1875 in Daventry. (55) 3b 275 He was a postman (rural) in 1881. (59) He appeared on the census in 1881 in Brook St 2No+, Daventry, Northamptonshire.(59) REL head COND m AGE 30 PROF rural postman BORN NTH Daventry He appeared on the census in 1901 in 18 Waterloo, Daventry, Northamptonshire.(60) AGE 53 PROF rural postman BORN NTH Daventry. In household also is an 8 yr old grandson, "Harry Ferministe" in index He died on 19 Jul 1911 in 9 Oxford St, Daventry, Northants.(61) age 63, rural postman; family information on date agrees He was buried on 22 Jul 1911 in Daventry. He died in Sep 1911 in Daventry. (3) 3b 120 age 63 He has reference number 1086. of Daventry
was married to Emily Bird on 2 Oct 1875 in Independent Chapel, Daventry, Northants.
(62) bachelor 24, spinster 21, both of Brook
St; witnesses Lizzie Tooby and Joseph | <urn:uuid:b2dd2b61-cd64-4c2b-bc12-f4ce8065d0cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hawgood.co.uk/family/NTH/d940.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944374 | 272 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, in Weilder Stadt, Wurttemburg, in the Holy Roman Empire (now Germany). He was a sickly child with poor parents, but his obvious intelligence earned him a scholarship to the University of Tubingen. At Tubingen, Michael Maestlin, one of the leading astronomers of the day, taught Kepler astronomy. The astronomy of the curriculum was geocentric astronomy in which it was thought that all seven planets--Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, moved around the Earth. Maestlin chose to teach Kepler even more advanced astronomy by introducing him to the new heliocentric, cosmological system of Copernicus.
Kepler, who was a profoundly religious man, was persuaded by Maestlin to abandon plans for ordination and instead take up a post teaching mathematics in Graz. In 1596, while at Graz, he wrote the first outspoken defense of the Copernican system, the Mysterium Cosmographicum. Religious intolerance increased in the following years and Kepler moved to Prague to work with the renowned Danish astronomer, Tycho Brahe. He inherited Tycho's post as Imperial Mathematician when Tycho died in 1601. Using the precise data that Tycho had collected, Kepler discovered that the orbit of Mars was an ellipse. In 1609, he published Astronomia Nova delineating his discoveries, which are now called Kepler's first two laws of planetary motion. This work established Kepler as the "father of modern science", documenting how, for the first time, a scientist dealt with a multitude of imperfect data to arrive at a fundamental law of nature. In 1612 Lutherans were forced out of Prague, and Kepler was excommunicated. This caused him much pain but he was never successful in getting this ban lifted even with his high social standing as Imperial Mathematician.
Kepler moved to Linz, and in 1619 he published Harmonices Mundi in which he describes his third law of planetary motion. According to many experts, it was this law--not an apple, that led Newton to his law of gravitation.
In Kepler's book Astronomia Pars Optica, for which he earned the title of founder of modern optics, he was the first to discover many of the common theories of optics. He was the first to use a pin hole camera to investigate the formation of pictures; the first to explain the process of vision by refraction within the eye; the first to formulate eyeglass designs for nearsightedness and farsightedness; and the first to explain the use of both eyes for depth perception.
In his book Dioptrice (a term coined by Kepler and still used today), he was the first to describe real, virtual, upright and inverted images and the concept of magnification. He was the first to explain the principles of how a telescope works, and the first to discover and describe the properties of total internal reflection.
Kepler died in November of 1630 in Regensburg (now in Germany) after a brief illness.
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Traffic flow is much improved at 71st Street and Yale Avenue following a major widening project that began in 1983 and was completed in 1984. The project, which was funded by the 1980 sales tax, featured many closures during construction, with 71st Street being closed first for excavation and a major storm sewer installation between Yale and Richmond avenues (to the west). This was followed by a six-week closure of the intersection for excavation and partial paving, which eventually resulted in the southwest quadrant being opened on temporary lanes (except for the concrete portion of the intersection). The eastbound lanes on the east approach were paved with concrete, and they opened in January 1984, which concided with the return of a temporary traffic signal to the intersection. At that time, crews closed Yale Avenue between 66th and 71st streets for a bridge project and major dirt fill job that reduced the grade on a hill in that section. The intersection reopened for all four directions in April 1984, and the project was completed in the summer of 1984. The new intersection has four lanes on each approach with left-and right-turn lanes, including a dual left-turn lane for southbound traffic. Yale Avenue is four lanes with a left-turn median between 66th and 71st streets. The medians on 71st Street are wider than most, as these medians will be reduced when 71st Street eventually is widened to six lanes in the area, a project which has yet to be funded. Photo taken August 1984.
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections. | <urn:uuid:4954fda5-f8e7-4b90-8797-9567236a33c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cdm15020.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15020coll4/id/1373/rec/4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985191 | 314 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Displaying items 25-36 of 3359 » View wsbt.com items only< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11-280 Next >
DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — Health officials say nearly 200 students and staff at a Detroit-area school have been sickened in a suspected norovirus outbreak. The Detroit News reports (http://bit.ly/UImy8e ) Annapolis High School officials...
WSBT-TV ReporterIt’s a shocking statistic impacting lots of local families – last year in St. Joseph County, more people died from accidental drug overdoses than in car accidents. Many of those deaths were caused by prescription drugs. It’s a...
Tags: Addiction, Substance Abuse, Theft, General Practitioners, Heroin
South Bend TribuneELKHART – Six victims of the fungal meningitis outbreak in Elkhart County have filed lawsuits against Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center, which produced, marketed and sold the now-recalled steroid medication linked to the outbreak....
ELKHART COUNTY – A third death linked to fungal meningitis in Elkhart County has been confirmed. That confirmation came Wednesday afternoon from County Health Officer Dr. Dan Nafziger, who spoke with WSBT. The latest count shows 28 confirmed and...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A second person has died from fungal meningitis after receiving an injection in Indiana that's been linked to tainted steroids used for back pain, state and federal health officials said Saturday. The Centers for Disease Control...
Tags: Steroids, Back Pain, Meningitis, Disease Prevention, Headaches
ATLANTA (AP) — Scattered across the carefully landscaped main campus of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are the staff on the front lines fighting a rare outbreak of fungal meningitis: A scientist in a white lab coat peers through a...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -The family of a Cass County woman says it believes she died of fungal meningitis after receiving two injections of a tainted back pain medication at an Elkhart health clinic. Lisa Ann Durbin says her 89-year-old grandmother Pauline...
SOUTH BEND -- Three minutes. Three agonizing minutes were an eternity Lisa Banasiewicz will never forget. Her son Brett, the pride of South Bend on the Dew Tour, had fallen. No big deal, right? He falls a lot. That's what extreme sports athletes, who...
SOUTH BEND -- St. Joseph County ranks slightly better than middle of the road in overall health compared with that in other Indiana counties, but a breakdown of the data reveals a strong socioeconomic and racial discrepancy in health in the county. Local...
South Bend Tribune CorrespondentELKHART -- Agdia Inc. is growing because of the evolving agricultural market's high-tech ways to test for potentially devastating diseases. "It's been a constant growth area," said President Baziel Vrient, 61, who joined the Elkhart company as an...
WSBT-TV ReprorterMosquitoes carrying West Nile virus have been found in St. Joseph County. Health department officials found the infected mosquitoes on the east side of South Bend, though they did not specify exact location. So, does this mean we're all going to get...
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State officials say they're taking extra precautions at the Indiana State Fair to monitor hogs for signs of illness following a recent increase in sick hogs at the state's county fairs. State Board of Animal Health spokeswoman...
Nov 16, 2012 |Story| AP Broadcast
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Sep 18, 2012 |Column| South Bend Tribune
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Aug 1, 2012 |Story| AP Broadcast
Original site for Symptoms topic gallery. | <urn:uuid:73c23ce9-592b-4e89-99ee-815d7af5da45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsbt.com/topic/health/symptoms/07000000036.topic?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929765 | 910 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Debate pits First Amendment against Second
The horrific Newtown, Conn., mass shooting has unleashed a frenzy to pass new gun-control legislation. But the war over restricting firearms is not just between liberals and conservatives; it also pits the first two amendments to the U.S. Constitution against each other.
Apparently, in the sequential thinking of James Madison and the Founding Fathers, the right to free expression and the guarantee to own arms were the two most important personal liberties. But now these two cherished rights seem to be at odds with each other and have caused bitter exchanges between interpreters of the Constitution.
Many liberals believe there is no need to own semiautomatic assault rifles, magazines that hold more than 10 bullets, or even semiautomatic handguns. They argue that hunters and sportsmen don’t need such rapid-firing guns to kill their game — and that slower-firing revolvers and pump- or bolt-action rifles are sufficient for home protection.
Implicit to the liberal argument for tighter gun control is the belief that the ability to rapidly fire off lots of bullets either empowers — or encourages — mass murderers to butcher the innocent.
Most conservatives offer rebuttals to all those points. Criminals will always break almost any law they choose. Connecticut, for example, has among the tightest gun-control laws in the nation. A murderer can pop in three 10-bullet clips in succession and still spray his targets almost as effectively as a shooter with a single 30-bullet magazine. A gun is a tool, and the human who misuses it is the only guilty party. An armed school guard might do more to stop a mass shooting on campus than a law outlawing the shooter’s preferred weapon or magazine.
Homeowners should have the right to own weapons comparable to those of criminals, who often pack illicit semiautomatic handguns. If mass murders are the real concern, should ammonium nitrate be outlawed, given that Timothy McVeigh slaughtered 168 innocents in Oklahoma City with fertilizer? Banning semiautomatic weapons marks a slippery slope — each new restriction will soon lead to yet another rationalization to go after yet another type of gun.
Liberals counter that just as free speech is curtailed (you cannot yell “Fire!” in a crowded auditorium), the constitutional right to bear arms is no more infringed upon by the banning of semiautomatic, large magazine firearms than it is by prohibitions against machine guns.
Conservatives reply that the chief purpose of the Second Amendment was not necessarily just to ensure personal protection from criminals or the freedom to hunt with firearms, but in fact to guarantee that a well-armed populace might enjoy some parity to an all-powerful, centralized government. To the Founders, the notion that individual citizens had recourse to weapons comparable to those of federal authorities was a strong deterrent to government infringing upon constitutionally protected freedoms — rights that cannot simply be hacked away by presidential executive orders.
So which amendment should we begin pruning to deal with monsters like those at Newtown and Columbine?
The Connecticut shooter, Adam Lanza, was known to be mentally unstable. He sat for hours transfixed with violent video games — in a popular culture of cheap Hollywood mayhem where bodies implode on the big screen without worry over the effect of such gratuitous carnage on the viewer.
Just as semiautomatic weapons mark a technological sea change from the muskets of the Founders’ era, computer-simulated video dismemberment is a world away from the spirited political pamphleteering of the 18th century. If we talk of restricting the Second Amendment to protect us against technological breakthroughs, why not curtail the First Amendment, as well?
How about an executive order to Hollywood to stop its graphic depictions of mass killings, perhaps limiting the nature and rationing the number of shootings that can appear in any one film? Can’t we ban violent video games altogether in the same way we forbid child pornography? Isn’t it past time for an executive order to curtail some of the rights of the mentally unstable — given that the gunmen in mass killings usually have a history of psychic disorders and often use mood-altering drugs?
If conservatives have ensured that there are millions of semiautomatic assault weapons in American society, liberals’ unprecedented expansions of free expression have led to an alarming number of unhinged Americans on our streets, nursed on sick games like Grand Theft Auto and hours of watching odious movies such as Natural Born Killers.
Legislating away the evil in men’s heads and hearts can be a tricky — and sometimes unconstitutional — business.
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at Stanford University's Hoover Institution. | <urn:uuid:7722730f-b0b7-47da-8d76-3ce028a88f89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/editorials/2013/01/17/debate-pits-first-amendment-against-second.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939729 | 969 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Synopsis of Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative
On 24 May 2010, BP committed $500 million over a 10 year period to create a broad, independent research program to be conducted at research institutions primarily in the US Gulf Coast States. The program will be known as the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI).On 15 June 2010, BP announced the names of the scientific experts who would form GoMRI s independent Research Board. BP, in consultation with the White House and the Governors of the five Gulf Coastal States,later expanded the GoMRI Research Board to 20 members by adding additional scientific expertise. The Research Board is responsible for preparing requests for proposals (RFPs), enabling an open and transparent peer review process, selecting proposals for funding, and reviewing annual progress for continuation funding.
On March 14, 2011, BP and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (the Alliance is a non profit entity formed by the Governors of the five Gulf Coastal States) entered into the GoMRI Master Research Agreement (GoMRI MRA). The GoMRI MRA creates the structure for the GoMRI, the selection and distribution of grants from the GoMRI, as well as the funding, conduct, and oversight of research in furtherance of the purposes of the GoMRI. Any Research Consortium,research institution, or co investigator that receives funding, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, under the GoMRI is subject to and must comply with the terms and conditions of the GoMRI MRA. The GoMRI is an independent scientific research program and is separate from the Natural Resources Damages Assessment process, and BP agrees that the participation of the Alliance in this Agreement shall not result in a credit against or defense to any claims for natural resource damages or assessment costs.
The objectives of the GoMRI are to investigate the impacts of the oil, dispersed oil, and dispersant on the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico and affected Gulf Coastal States in a broad context of improving fundamental understanding of the dynamics of such events, the associated environmental stresses, and the public health implications. The GoMRI will also develop improved spill mitigation, oil and gas detection, characterization, and remediation technologies. The ultimate goal of the GoMRI will be to improve society s ability to understand and respond to the impacts of petroleum pollution and related stressors of the marine and coastal ecosystems, with an emphasis on conditions in the Gulf of Mexico. Knowledge accrued will be applied to restoration and to improvement of the long term environmental health of the Gulf of Mexico.
The GoMRI emphasizes interdisciplinary science and technology involving experts in physical, chemical, geological, and biological oceanography; marine biology; coastal and reef ecosystems, fisheries and wildlife ecology; public health; and associated development of physical, chemical, and biological instrumentation, advanced modelling, and informatics. All activities will combine state of the art research with deep scientific knowledge of the ecosystems of the Gulf of Mexico to create fundamental advances in understanding the interactions that occurred and continue to occur among the marine and coastal ecosystems, oil, and oil dispersants produced by the catastrophic loss of the DWH oil drilling platform. The success of the GoMRI depends on a combination of regional knowledge with regional, national, and international research innovation.
BP provided GoMRI Year 1 (1 June 2010 31 May 2011) funds to Gulf Coast State institutions for rapid response studies in the immediate aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Pursuant to this GoMRI, the remaining funds to conduct these studies are to be distributed to academic and research institutions ( Research Institutions ) primarily in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas (the Gulf Coast States ), which have formed or may form appropriate partnerships with Research Institutions based outside of the Gulf Coast States.
RFP I selected the research activities for GoMRI Years 2 4 (1 June 2011 31 May 2014) involving Research Consortia, defined as having four or more institutions. In general, the Research Consortia consist of Research Institutions in the Gulf Coast States, with Research Institutions outside of the Gulf Coast States as members of or participants in partnerships with Research Consortia, to the extent required to ensure the delivery of high quality scientific studies in fulfillment of the objectives and ultimate goal of the GoMRI. The total funds available for distribution to Research Consortia through RFP I are $37.5 million per year.
The second RFP (RFP II) focused on activities involving less money and less internal management than a Research Consortium. RFP II requested proposals from individual or collaborative efforts involving a principal investigator (PI) and co principal investigators (co PIs) from up to three additional institutions and was focused on the same research themes described in RFP I. RFP II funds activities for GoMRI Years 2- 4 and the total funds available for distribution are $7.5 million per year.
RFP III supported continuity of critical observations and sampling related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill from during July 1, 2011 to September 30, 2011, including ancillary work, such as cataloging the observations and samples and preparing them for availability to the wider community. RFP-III was intended to fill a funding gap in critical data acquisition. The total funds available through RFP-III were $1.5 million.
RFP IV is currently being developed by the GoMRI Research Board. The anticipated release of the RFP is November 15, 2013. RFP IV will focus on Research Consortia, defined as a contractual arrangement between a PI and co-PIs at four or more institutions.The total funds available for distribution to Research Consortia through the 2015-2017 GoMRI Research Consortia RFP will be approximately $35 million per year. See the full save the date announcement here! | <urn:uuid:85c3f698-cd61-4097-a674-562fd3c4d708> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gulfresearchinitiative.org/request-for-proposals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932964 | 1,165 | 2.5 | 2 |
When my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Marshall stumbled off the convict transport Friendship on January 14, 1818, she emerged from a traumatic journey of confinement and scurvy which became notorious for ‘indecent and licentious intercourse’ to find herself in an alien land and facing an uncertain future.
She may have been a wily Mancunian ‘felon’ – she had been convicted of stealing fivepence-worth of clothing – but what was to happen to her during the seven years of her sentence? Who wouldn’t be daunted by being at the will of others for so many years and so far from her family and home?
The choice for women, outnumbered by men and potentially vulnerable to sexual predation, was stark. Go into service, go to the Female Factory, or get married (or live as the wife of a male protector). But at least she was alive. Theft was still a hanging offence.
In 1818 the famous Female Factory at Parramatta was about to be built by Francis Greenway, Governor Macquarie‘s emancipist convict architect. But in the meantime women who were not assigned a job or married off still went to the old combined gaol and factory on the north side of the Parramatta River, where Prince Alfred Park now is.
This gaol, the second on the site (the first was torched in 1799) was built between 1802 and 1804 from stone, not the wood and thatch of the earlier one. Construction was overseen by the ‘flogging parson’, as the Parramatta magistrate, the Reverend Samuel Marsden, was known. A “grasping Evangelical missionary with… the face of a petulant ox”, Marsden was to refuse to allow the legality of Nicholas Delaney and Elizabeth Bayly‘s marriage – which had been carried out by Major Abbott of the Rum Corps. The money for the new building was raised by a tax on spirits, which Terri McCormack thinks “probably led to the increased use of illicit stills”.
This gaol also incorporated a linen and wool ‘manufactory’ on the top floor, where these valuable materials were woven. This was ideal work for women. And convict women needed to be put to work – to pay for their keep; because they were considered even more degenerate than male convicts, and the devil made work for idle hands; to help reform them; and to divert them from consorting with men.
These two rooms with their looms were known as ‘the Factory above the Gaol‘. By the time Sarah arrived in New South Wales 200 women would have been working there. Each room was about 80 feet long and 20 feet wide, so there would have been about 100 women in 1,600 square feet of space, including their equipment. With the size of the looms and the dusty air it must have been cramped, as well as unhealthy.
Many of the Factory girls slept in the workrooms; there were no bedrooms as such. Women who had brought their own bedding with them from their old homes were relatively comfortable in the cramped space, while the others slept on the floor, on bales or on fleeces, or were found lodgings in town.
We have no evidence that Sarah Marshall went to the first Female Factory, but then we have no evidence of her being assigned to work for anyone either. She seems to fade out of documented history between leaving the Friendship in January 1818 and giving birth to her daughter Lucy, my 2x great grandmother, ten months later.
So it’s possible that she met her future husband, John Simpson, in the first days after she landed and lived with him straight away. I’ve talked more about how boy met girl in early colonial Australia in this post.
But it’s also possible that she spent some time at the Factory, like many prospective convict brides, and that her first days in her new home were among the clattering looms, breathing the lint-filled air and dossing down on a fleece among strangers in a cramped, dirty, rodent-infested room above the men’s gaol.
There are a lot of photos of the more famous Female Factory around but pictures of the Factory above the Gaol are hard to find. One is on this interesting website. | <urn:uuid:b059e6b1-4db8-4db2-aace-b372d06e304e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rebelhand.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/the-factory-above-the-gaol-women-convicts-in-1818/?like=1&_wpnonce=84af3d0b4c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98647 | 914 | 2.359375 | 2 |
[SciPy-dev] sparse deletion and sparse random matrices.
Sat Apr 19 12:31:52 CDT 2008
>> The two things I believe could be immediately useful are some simple
>> routines for deleting rows and columns, and routines to create sparse
>> random matrices. The latter would be greatly useful for examples,
>> exploration, debugging etc.
>> The routines might look something like below. If there's interest, I
>> can help with whatever needs to be done to put them in the tree:
> sprand() would be useful however deleterowcol() is too special
> purpose IMO.
I meant that something like deleterowcol() could be used to implement
the delete() routines for sparse matrices. Currently, you can't delete
rows/cols from sparse matrices. I believe it is basic functionality
that would be nice to have, even if early implementations were not the
> Two comments on your sprand()
> 1) leads to values outside [0,1) when an (i,j) entry occured more
> than once.
You are right. I did find that bug earlier this week, and fixed it.
> 2) fix(rand()) may be better implemented with
Still familiarizing myself with all the stuff thats in numpy. That
would definitely be a better function to use.
> With a docstring + unittests this would make a nice addition to
Ok, I will dig into the source and figure out what all needs to be
done to put this in.
More information about the Scipy-dev | <urn:uuid:1f5f0b8f-530d-4bc9-980a-317e4479066b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mail.scipy.org/pipermail/scipy-dev/2008-April/008896.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922749 | 341 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Adams family pinball
The Addams family was a cartoon created by an American cartoonist known as Charles Adams. These cartoons first started appearing in The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s. Even today, Addams family is popular among many people across the world. The Addams family is shown as the descendants of social outcasts such as witches, and ghouls. They are a close family, who has a connection with the supernatural. However, they are shown to be eccentric family with weird lifestyle. The Addams family members eat things that are considered inedible by normal human beings. They also enjoy a few painful activities such as walking in a minefield, or being cut by sharp pendulum. The house that they stay in is old, and looks haunted. The main characters of Addams family are Gomez Alonzo Addams, who is the patriarch, and Morticia A. Addams, the matriarch. The couple has two children called as Wednesday, and Pugsley. Other characters are Uncle Fester, Grandma, Lurch, Thing, and Cousin Itt. The popularity of the cartoon led to the creation of television series of the same name in the year 1964. Paramount Pictures released a movie known as 'The Addams Family,' in the 1991. The movie became so successful that it led to two sequels that were released in 1993, and 1998. Even animated versions of The Addams Family were created for its ever growing fan base. Merchandize of The Addams Family are quite popular among fans. The Addams Family pinball machine is available for the fans, which is designed on the 1991 movie. It is designed to suit anyone from kids to adults. The pinball machine features the voices of the movie stars Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston. The machine has multi-ball, Dot Matrix animations, AI flipper, and Ramp skill shots that allow the user to enjoy the game to the fullest. The pinball is colorful, and features the pictures of characters. | <urn:uuid:941cc8da-a8d6-4763-8727-510fffbb8220> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://popular.ebay.com/sporting-goods/adams-family-pinball.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98131 | 410 | 2.390625 | 2 |
It’s fall—the time of year when pumpkin-flavored everything is littering the menus of every restaurant under the sun. That’s fine (as long as the pumpkin flavor is coming from actual pumpkins, and not some calorie-laden sugar syrup), but laser-focusing on one flavor means you’re ignoring some of the best-tasting—and craziest looking—vegetables of the season. Get your mind out of the pumpkin patch (almost) and look for these eight vegetables that you might not be able to find any other time of year.
Eat them: The healthiest apple in the world, according to British scientists, is an organic ‘Pendragon’ apple, an 800-year-old heirloom variety that originated in England. Why? It has the highest levels of eight different antioxidants and compounds known to control blood sugar and lower heart-disease risk, according to a paper the scientists presented to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. They also found that in some cases, organic apples had several thousand times more of these compounds than nonorganic apples.
Find them: While you might not find ‘Pendragon’ apples anywhere close to you—the scientists had to source them from a single small orchard in England—that’s okay. The research found that organic ‘Golden Delicious’ apples were next in line, as far as nutrient content goes. As long as they’re organic, eat lots of apples, now when they’re in season. An apple a day—any kind—keeps heart attacks away, according to a new study from Ohio State University.
Read More: Organic Heirloom Apples
Photo: (cc) Amy Loves Yah/Flickr
Eat them: These cousins of the standard English walnuts you’re accustomed to eating may keep you happy as long summer days wane. They contain some of the highest levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that keeps your mood and stress levels in check, of any food.
Find them: Black walnuts can be found in the nut aisles of most gourmet grocery stores, but why pay the high price of $12 to $13 per pound? This time of year, black walnuts are practically raining off walnut trees, which grow across the U.S. Look for trees that bear green, baseball-sized fruits and pick up any that have fallen on the ground. Crack open the green exterior (but wear gloves, because the brown flesh on the inside will stain your fingers), and you’ll see the black walnut hiding inside.
Eat them: Want a really freaky-looking pumpkin to decorate your front stoop for Halloween that tastes amazing after the holiday is over? Hunt down a peanut pumpkin—or Galeux d'Eysine, as it’s officially known. This wart-covered French heirloom pumpkin develops more peanut-shell-shaped warts as it matures, making it great for decoration. But it'll beat the canned stuff, hands down, in your holiday pies.
Find them: As with most rare heirloom-variety vegetables, you’ll have to look hard for a peanut pumpkin. Start at your farmers’ market, and if you don’t see any, find a local pumpkin patch that sells heirloom varieties.
Extra: Winter Squash 101
Eat them: These reddish oddities aren’t a variety of mushroom, per se, but mushrooms that have been covered with a parasitic fungus. The fungus is red and makes the original mushroom, which turns white on the inside, unidentifiable (which is why it’s best to buy these—foraging for them in the wild may lead you to eat a poisonous mushroom). Mushrooms of all varieties harbor compounds linked to lower rates of prostate cancer, breast cancer, and heart disease; lobster mushrooms, with their mildly seafoodlike flavor, just look way more interesting on your dinner plate!
Find them: These will start turning up at farmers’ markets in September and October, and you may also find them at larger grocery-store chains.
Learn More: Grow Your Own Gourmet Mushrooms
Photo: (cc) Jason Hollinger/Flickr
Eat them: Quinces used to be common fruits in the United States, until they got edged out by their more popular cousins, apples and pears. But these fuzzy-skinned fruits shouldn't be overlooked, if only because of their rich cold-and-flu-fighting vitamin C content. One quince provides 23 percent of your daily requirement, while apples and pears provide only 10 percent. They taste a bit tropical, sort of a combination of pineapple, guava, apple, and pear—giving you a taste of the tropics without adding polluting food miles to your fruit plate.
Find them: Look for U.S.-grown quinces between now and December in gourmet grocery stores as well as Latino, Asian, and Middle Eastern markets. And talk to the fruit farmers when visiting the farmers’ market. Their quinces may not be on display, but you may be able to place an order for them.
Photo: (cc) Dave F./Flickr
Eat it: Kale is one of the most nutrient-dense foods you can eat, with nearly 100 percent of your daily requirements for vitamins K and A, and any variety is a healthy addition to your dinner. But Tuscan kale is much more versatile: Steam it, add it to soups, or eat it raw, and it will hold its shape and flavor. It makes a great stand-in for lettuce in salads.
Find it: Tuscan kale is pretty common in grocery stores and farmers’ markets. You might see it sold under one of its other nicknames, dinosaur or lacinto kale.
Learn More: Kale Growing Guide
Photo: (cc) Tuscanycious/Flickr
Eat them: There are bananas, and then there are “Hoosier bananas,” more properly known as pawpaws. Little known but superhealthy, the pawpaw is the largest edible fruit native to North America. They have 20 to 70 times as much iron, 10 times as much calcium, and 4 to 20 times as much magnesium as bananas, apples, and oranges, and research from Ohio State has found that they have antioxidant levels that rival cranberries and cherries. Health bonus: Being a native tree, pawpaws are resistant to most pests and diseases, making them very easy to grow organically, without the insecticides or fungicides used in most fruit orchards.
Find them: Pawpaws are harvested this time of year in just about every U.S. state, though they grow best in the Midwest. Look for them at a farmers’ market, or go foraging. Pawpaw trees grow in shady areas alongside riverbanks and streams.
Eat them: Meat from wild game has fewer calories, less saturated and total fat, and even lower levels of cholesterol than meat from factory-farmed animals, according to research published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Not only that, wild animals are free of hormones and antibiotics, and their diets consist of wild greens, acorns, and plants, not genetically modified feed. Wild boar, in particular, should be eaten…often! They’re invasive nuisances to farmers across the United States, destroying farm fields and terrorizing animals. So eating boar meat actually leads to a net environmental benefit.
Find them: Start at a local farmers’ market or a butcher who processes hunters’ wild catch. If you can’t find any locally, Dartagnan.com sells cuts of wild boar caught in Texas, where the state is working hard to contain a burgeoning population.
Keep Reading: 7 Delicious Invasive Species
Photo: (cc) Mike Baird/Flickr | <urn:uuid:cb47847a-5b4a-4f29-aa45-e9df32bd0332> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://organicgardening.com/print/82192 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933265 | 1,638 | 2.375 | 2 |
Gov. Scott's $400 million high-speed rail victory
The U.S. DOT today awarded about $2 billion in high-speed rail funding to 15 states, saying it was money that would have gone to Florida. But Florida was set to receive $2.4 billion. What happened to the $400 million?
The DOT today acknowledged that it was part of the budget-cutting deal that prevented a government shutdown.
Last month, Scott had jumped on news that rail funds were part of the budget deal, but DOT said at the time that Florida's funds were not part of that mix. So Scott can claim a small victory today.
Sort of. The governor had taken credit* for averting the shutdown. Left unmentioned was that he did not want to return the federal money. Indeed, Scott wanted to direct it to Florida ports and widening roads. For that, Scott earned a "full flop" from PolitiFact Florida.
* UPDATE: Scott spokesman Brian Burgess took exception with the characterization that Scott had taken credit. He writes, "In fact, it was the Huffington Post that mentioned the link between HSR dollars and the budget deal. We only 'took credit' in a tongue-in-cheek way …apparently that wasn’t clear from the release. But just so we’re clear, Huffington Post and other media outlets made the case for us. We just trumpeted those articles." | <urn:uuid:227f0b78-23dc-43ff-863f-00a5b732bb87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/gov-scotts-400-million-high-speed-rail-victory/2037622 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985758 | 295 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The June 2009 issue of the Journal Neuron just published a fascinating study that could be the next step towards figuring out how hypnosis actually works in the brain.
As you probably know, I am big into brain science – and especially studies employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). What I like about fMRI is that it provides a window into the brain; allowing scientists to find out what is really going on as opposed to solely relying on reporting or behavioral assessments.
I wish they had this technology when I was in graduate school in the mid 90’s – I never would have left.
Anyway, let’s take you through the experiment. I think you will find this interesting and maybe even helpful in some strange way.
Researchers recruited 18 healthy volunteers, and asked them to perform a “go-no go” task while their brains were being watched via fMRI.
The participants were first required to fixate on a cross which was shown for half a second. This was followed by a grayscale picture of either a left or a right hand; this was a cue shown to indicate which hand was at play.
After an interval of 1-5 seconds, the hand changed color.
If it turned green, they had to respond, as quickly as possible, by pressing a button with the corresponding hand.
If it turned red, they were to withhold the prepared movement and do nothing.
Here is the Fun Part!
Twelve of the participants played the game both under hypnosis (and told that their left hand was paralyzed), or in a normal state.
6 of the participants performed the task while feigning paralysis (acting “as if” they were unable to move the fingers of the left hand).
Both the control group (the group that feigned paralysis and the hypnosis group were able to resist pushing the button with the left hand – but the brain scans showed that the mechanisms involved were completely different!
This alone blows away the hypothesis that there is no difference between hypnosis and just acting. The evidence against this theory is more than compelling, but it is nice to see this happening in the brain itself.
More about The Test (and why science is so cool)
There were two tests going on here.
First, they were testing how the hypnosis paralysis group suppressed the movement:
It either suppressed the movement in the preparatory level (by not “gearing up” the left hand when the grey left was displayed).
It suppressed the movement after the preparatory level (meaning the brain recognized the left hand and it geared up, but just didn’t allow the left hand to move.
Second (and what is really interesting to me)
By comparing the brain activity measured during hypnosis and in the feigned paralysis group, they could see whether the mechanisms in the brain were similar.
Test One Results – It is Not about the Planning
The results of the first test were pretty interesting. It turns out that when the hypnosis group was shown the grey left hand, that there was in fact brain activity in the right motor cortex which is associated with planning to execute a necessary command on the left side of your body.
In fact in both the hypnosis group and the feigned paralysis group, both group’s brains planned and/or “got ready” to move the left hand. This was true of all the subjects regardless of whether they were not hypnotized or just pretending.
So the answer to the first test is that the preparatory part of the brain is NOT blocked, it happens after preparation.
Test Two Results: Why Hypnosis is not like Pretending
The next step was examining the activity of the motor cortex at the time of actual hand movement execution.
At the time when the movement should be executed, the normal group again showed activity in the right motor cortex, but the hypnotized group did not (kind of expected since they did not move their left paralyzed hand).
However, the hypnotized group did show increased activity in the prefrontal and parietal cortexes (these are involved in executive control and attention). More relevant, there was also increased activity in a part of the brain called the precuneus.
The precuneus is involved in mental imagery and especially in making representations of self (it is heavily involved in creating your self-image).
In the feigning or “pretending” group, these areas of the brain did not experience more activity. Instead, there was increased activity in the right inferior frontal gyrus, which is involved in motor inhibition. (The hypnosis group did NOT experience increased activity in this area).
So What Does this Mean?
Sorry for all the brain talk (don’t worry; I have to refer to charts as well). And of course it is not wise to jump to conclusions. But, this not only shows a difference between pretending and hypnosis – it indicates that hypnosis uses internal representations and self imagery to take control of your behaviors – while “pretending” relies on will power.
Instructions given under hypnosis seem have the ability to override habitual action, without conscious awareness. And it seems to do so by working at the level of self image. This is why it is such a powerful tool for self-change.
The author of the study, Dr. Yann Cojan, said it differently, “These results suggest that hypnosis may enhance self-monitoring processes to allow internal representations generated by the suggestion to guide behavior but does not act through direct motor inhibition,” says Dr. Cojan.
Here is my two cents. Having been “hypnotized” more times than I can count, and talking to our customer base (full disclosure – my company sells hypnosis CDs), the results make sense.
When folks use hypnosis for weight loss, for example, they report that when they go to the fridge to get a snack – it is almost as if something pulls them away from this action. It seems like as the self image is built, it gets in the way of behaviors that were causing you trouble. And this is without a person having to think about it, or use will power.
Anyway, there is still a lot to learn!
I am very interested in what you think about this article, and would love to start a good conversation about brain science and behavior in general.
Please comment and sign up for Intense Debates. I promise to answer any questions on the blog. My answers are usually replies to specific posts.
Just click the blue “reply” by any comment to see my response.
The Brain under Self-Control: Modulation of Inhibitory and Monitoring Cortical Networks during Hypnotic Paralysis
Neuron, Volume 62, Issue 6, 25 June 2009, Pages 862-875
Yann Cojan, Lakshmi Waber, Sophie Schwartz, Laurent Rossier, Alain Forster and Patrik Vuilleumier | <urn:uuid:6961271b-4c40-47bc-a1e9-8c7d2bcac49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://exploringthemind.com/tag/brain-activity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968462 | 1,438 | 2.75 | 3 |
[Note: Update of 7 October 2011: I've found more papers pertaining to Leon Augustine Whitney's academic studies, so you will find images of more than four documents, including the 1886 commencement program of Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science and a mimeographed copy of the 1884 Thirty-first semi-annual examination .]
Four academic reports for Leon Augustine Whitney while a student at the Worcester Free Institute at Worcester, Massachusetts, all signed by H. T. Fuller - Homer Taylor Fuller.
Leon Augustine Whitney was born 29 April 1864 at Westminster, Massachusetts, in Worcester County, the son of Augustine and Mary Amanda (Titus) Whitney, both born in Westminster, Massachusetts. His paternal grandparents were Nathan and Anne M. (Whitney) Whitney of Massachusetts. His paternal grandparents were Otis and Sally (Minott) Titus of Massachusetts.
On 30 November 1892, Leon Augustine Whitney married Geneva Fradley, who was born in New York 13 April 1864, the daughter of Joseph and Jane Fradley. I haven't yet learned the names of Geneva's grandparents. Leon and Geneva lived in Brooklyn, New York, and raised a family of, I believe, four boys.
Leon Augustine Whitney died either in 1937 or 1947; I found both dates online. Geneva (Fradley) Whitney died on 11 June 1949.
All of the academic reports are signed by the Principal H. T. Fuller, who was Homer Taylor Fuller, born 15 November 1838 in Lempster, New Hampshire, the son of Sylvanus and Sarah Maria (Taylor) Fuller. His paternal grandparents were Noah and Mary Asenath (Smith) Fuller. His maternal grandparents were John and Sally (Jones) Taylor. Here is a picture of him while still at Worcester Free Institute, several years after Leon Augustine Whitney graduated.
Homer Taylor Fuller married Amorette "Etta" Jones of Fredonia, New York on 15 June 1870. They had three children: Mary Breese Fuller, Henry Jones Fuller and Anna Taylor Fuller. Homer died 14 August 1908 in Saranac Lake, New York. Etta died 26 March 1915 in Fredonia, New York.
Here is a link to a bio of Homer Taylor Fuller.
Reverse of document above:
1885 commencement program of Worcester County Free Institute of Industrial Science:
Mimeographed copy of 1884 Thirty-first Semi-Annual Examination:
If you have any corrections, additions or insights regarding the information presented above, please leave a comment in the comments box or contact me directly.
Map of Worcester, Massachusetts and surrounding Worcester County:
View Larger Map
Thanks for stopping by! | <urn:uuid:5b98b394-ea82-4fde-bd0c-089ac8e4f10f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heirloomsreunited.blogspot.com/2010/10/four-1880s-worcester-free-institute.html?showComment=1346982958897 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936835 | 544 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Some of you may recall the 1966 movie "Fantastic Voyage," in which the nuclear submarine Proteus is miniaturized to a length of one micrometer and injected into a Soviet defector in order to save him from a life-threatening blood clot in the brain.
Well, such science fiction may become reality soon with an interesting development at Osaka Medical College and Ryukoku University.
Dubbed the mermaid, the self-propelled, remote-controlled capsule endoscope developed jointly by the two institutions allows scanning of the entire digestive tract for signs of cancer and other ailments.
What's different from similar devices is that the mermaid is propelled by a tail fin that is electromagnetically stimulated from outside of the body. Other devices are merely swallowed, and follow the course of nature on their photographic trip back to the outside, whereas the mermaid can either be swallowed or inserted rectally. An operator can control it (position, and direction) using a joystick.
This ability to precisely control position is a major advantage when doctors want to focus in on an area of interest. A complete esophagus, stomach, intestine, and colon scan takes several hours, with the mermaid able to take two pictures every second. Free-fall remote endoscopes tend to make up for their lack of control by being more trigger happy -- taking up to 35 frames per second.
Measuring around 1 cm in diameter and 4.5 cm in length, the mermaid is admittedly a bit of a swallow, but compared with the alternative of conventional endoscopy, it sounds like a comfortable alternative once the entry procedure has been sorted. And the developers say it only costs around $30 or so more than existing swallowable systems that can't be controlled. | <urn:uuid:e586c07f-0cdd-4c96-ba8a-8e45295e47f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1365&doc_id=231318&piddl_msgorder=thrd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945116 | 360 | 2.796875 | 3 |
How to Get Access to Georgia Public Records
Georgia public records law requires that anything collected by or created by the government become a matter of public record, unless the information could breach privacy issues or cause harm to businesses within the state. With so few exceptions, there is a considerable amount of information available in Georgia public records for those that are interested in viewing or copying that data.
There are a few ways you can access Georgia public records. These include:
Contacting the State's Record Holder
The state itself has a branch dedicated to holding and disseminating public records, and will allow you to view or copy records when you need them.
Contacting the Counties
In addition to state governments, county governments also collect public records, and those records are also available if you need access to them.
Many websites have already contacted both state and county governments in order to get access to public records. This information is then put online for easy viewing, and in most cases you will not have to fill out a form to use it.
Finding Georgia Public Records
Records in Georgia are designed to be easy to access. The only difficulties you should have are any problems associated with finding the government body in charge of handling these records. If you can find them, or find a website that carries the same information, you should gain access to these records quickly. | <urn:uuid:fc8b5529-33a2-49ed-a78d-ebdef6dc505a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.publicrecordsources.com/georgia-public-records/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958643 | 274 | 2.21875 | 2 |
If you had a computer chip implanted in your brain that allowed you to perform complex mathematical computations just by looking at numbers and equations, like an onboard calculator, would you consider that genuine cognitive activity? How about if the computer chip was instead in your pocket? Answering “yes” to the former question is much more intuitive than a “yes” to the latter, but why should that be?
This are questions that occur in the fields of “embodied cognition” and “the extended mind”, and the topic of a recent article in the New York Times. The author of the article, Andy Clark, argues that we should view the theoretical brain-mounted computer chip as “bio-external elements in an extended cognitive process: one that now criss-crosses the conventional boundaries of skin and skull”. Importantly, he argues that iPhones and blackberries function in a similar way that a brain mounted chip would, and so they should be thought of likewise.
I’ve made similar arguments before, and I think that in the not-so-distant future we won’t need thinkers like Andy Clark to prompt us to consider these questions, as technology will place them front and center. Even if you find it absolutely clear that none of todays technologies should be considered cognition, or part of your brain, mind, or self, it will be much less clear as future technologies become more seamlessly integrated with our thought process.
For instance, consider the inevitable scenario I’ve laid out before: micro-computers, visual retinal displays, augmented reality, and neural input devices combined so that you’ve essentially got a brain-mounted computer on virtual floating screens in front of you that you control with your thoughts. Whether or not using these future devices should be considered cognition and part of our minds will be much trickier than it is with today’s iPhones, especially considering that from everyone else’s perspective “organic thought”, as you might call it, will often be indistinguishable from “computer thought”. “Did he just remember my birthday when I asked if he knew it, or did he look it up?” | <urn:uuid:b738ead5-df99-4c96-86ae-fd56e5eea693> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://modeledbehavior.com/2010/12/13/a-computer-in-your-head-is-part-of-your-brain-but-in-your-pocket/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950835 | 458 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Watch the convention code words.
“Forward” is cheery and fits nicely on a placard. It suggests so many nice things as to be pleasantly benign as a campaign theme. It is sprinkled throughout everyone’s speeches and probably outnumbers “God” even.
Watch for the more potent word: invest. Or it could be investment.
Julian Castro’s keynote address last night used one or the other nine times, but never with any degree of detail. One example:
“We have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow.”
“We all understand that freedom isn’t free. What Romney and Ryan don’t understand is that neither is opportunity. We have to invest in it.”
The meaning, it’s clear, is spending money. The message is, “Government should spend more money to make your lives better or to make jobs that wouldn’t otherwise exist.”
That’s a message best left to code, given the nation’s fiscal shape. “Invest” doesn’t make a good placard, not when it really means “spend,” and not against the backdrop of the national debt ticker that just hit the $16 trillion figure a few hours ago.
The Dems’ invest is the counterbalance to the GOP’s cut. Both are poorly defined.
Neither Romney nor Ryan nor their surrogates would get specific last week on what government programs they’d whack. Why spoil a party with your plans for inflicting pain?
Nor should we count on any greater level of detail from Obama or his surrogates on where they would jack up spending. Why spoil a party with visions of IOUs that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back?
The national debt clock now lists federal indebtedness at more than $50,913 per every U.S. citizen alive today. Four years ago it was $33,500. At the current rate of, shall we say, investment, the national debt will be $68,375 per person in another four years. Per taxpayer, the debt will be nearly three times that. | <urn:uuid:f8793262-c256-46e9-aaeb-34f89496c484> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/will-democrats-be-clear-on-government-investment.html/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946535 | 462 | 1.726563 | 2 |
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Do Automated Cross-Platform Network Backups The Easy Way, Part 1
June 23, 2006
Computer stores are chock-full of all manner of backup software and network storage appliances of varying quality, usefulness, and ease of use. Do you really need some expensive commercial product? Probably not. Backing up Linux/UNIX systems is easy, and *nix comes with everything you need. Backing up Windows systems can get expensive, what with all those per-user and concurrent and per-machine blah blah licensing, and cross-platform backups can drive even strong admins to develop substance abuse habits. But don't run out and start one just yet, even though you'll be able to afford it, because this two-part series is going to show you how to perform the two primary types of backups the easy and cheap way: data files on a mixed LAN, and custom operating system images for fast bare-metal restores.
BackupPC is a great backup program that requires no client software, backs up Unix, Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows hosts, and is easy to set up and maintain. Take the money budgeted for backup software and put it into some good-quality backup server hardware instead. Then set up automated network backups on a central server, and put your feet up and relax. Except when people are looking--don't make it look too easy.
You can make bare-metal *nix restores with Knoppix, or any live-bootable Linux disk, and BackupPC. Windows bare-metal restores require some additional software, which we'll get to shortly.
BackupPC is yet another excellent program from the FOSS world that is efficient, sophisticated, and saves the bacons of Windows and *nix admins alike. Written in Perl, it makes clever use of existing programs like rsync, Samba, and tar, which is not novel, as most Linux-y backup programs do this. What sets it apart are these features: | <urn:uuid:3bcc1d2d-bc8c-44b7-bd6e-48c7410a4cd7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/print/6263 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919596 | 411 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Holidays are coming! Some are having the times of their life during Winter holidays: parties, friends, celebrations, cheering, sharing, etc.. Some find this time of the year very demanding. Most of us experience something in-between these two extremes: fun in some situation, pressure in others. Joy of sharing time with people we love, uncertainty about how to deal with holidays pressure.
These are 8 steps you can embrace to live joyfully during the holidays. You can live happily by:
-Being present, and accepting
Start with yourself. If you feel joyful in the situation you are now, than enjoy it fully and share it with people around you! No matter what we are conditioned into thinking, joy comes from inside, and grows when shared. Not from the latest gadget on sale, nor from getting a career advancement.
If you feel the current situation is neutral, for example now that you are reading this post and the holidays celebrations are not here yet, then just enjoy the space. Right here and now, everything is fine. When the time for celebrations comes, then you will have plenty of energy and resources to be part of it.
If you find yourself in a situation which is not comfortable, then just breath. Breath in, breath out, Breath slowly, to relax your sympathetic system. You may have your lucky charm, your favourite jokes to tell, etc. However, sometimes you may not be able to use them. Breathing is always with you, so keep it your friend.
Then be aware of people and surroundings. We are all on the same boat, with our ups and downs. With our strengths and question marks. With our funny jokes, and cliches. Accept people as they are, give them space. Most they will respond by accepting you as you are.
Let the “ghosts” of past and future holidays go. Accept the past holidays are gone. Accept the future holidays are far from now. Be in the present moment.
For these holidays, and for most of your life, visualize more what you want to be, and less what you want to move away from. If I say you: “do not think about the pink tree!”, what do you visualize? A pink tree! Positive visualizations and course of actions, being/doing what you want to be/do, are more powerful than negative ones (moving away from something).
Some of us recharge while being in a group. They feel the energy coming from other beings. Some of us recharge in a quiet environment. Their energy grows while in nature, reading a book, etc. Know what recharges you, and refill your batteries for the holidays.
Variety, the spicy of life! The holidays may be a once a life-time (or at least, once in a year) opportunity to get to know better people you meet daily in formal settings. Or to touch base with family members. Any inspiration, for your new year, you can take from them?
Sharing the ride, and volunteering
Can you share with a trusted friend your feelings about the holidays times? Spontaneously, by sharing some of the ups and downs. Without emphasizing any specific aspect.
Balance this “holiday budding” with sharing your real gifts (not the material ones!) with society. Can you volunteer for a shelter, canteen, senior’s group, etc.? By shifting the attention from you to other precious beings, you reconnect with your real nature.
Holidays are a great time to get to taste again your auntie’s cake, etc. Considering food portions at most of holidays event come in generous sizes, ensure to have at home only healthy ingredients for cooking, like fresh vegetables and fruits. That is your detox time.
If you want to feel calmer, make yourself a relaxing tea before an event, and stay sober during parties. No matter what your priorities are during the holidays, you benefit from feeding your body and mind with appropriate food, in appropriate quantities, when you have most of the saying in your menu’: at home. This ensures you have full energy available.
Get plenty of walking, and fresh air. Limit your car usage to the minimum. If you already have a regular schedule (gym, yoga, pilates, etc.) try to keep it, or modify it to ensure you get your physical activity.
After a generous lunch and some talking, excuse yourself and take a short walk near-by. You can bring some friends/relatives with you, or just have a quiet walk.
Having a plan B
When you are in a quiet environment, where you feel safe and in peace, enjoy the blissful experience. And gently touch one area of your body (ex.: wrist). If, for any reason, you find your inner peace feels shaken during the holidays, just centre your attention on your breath as it is. And gently touch again your chosen spot. Your breath and your peaceful spot have always been there, are there now, and always will be. And so is your ability to enjoy life as it unfolds, during holidays and during the rest of the year.
About the author: Frank is Dharma instructor, life-coach, well-being facilitator. He is Italian and has travelled to over 30 countries and 80 cities. He meet different cultures, sharing the same quest for meaning and joy in life common to all of us. For more free information, and discounts on his eBook/eCourse, please visit: http://www.amareway.org/resolutions-for-new-year/ | <urn:uuid:da72320d-7b09-4658-b2d8-cafb74d29d8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/holiday-depression-8-steps-to-be-happy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950382 | 1,150 | 1.875 | 2 |
Gloucester Then and Now: Eastgate Street Market in 1968
THESE fantastic photographs show the old Eastgate Street Market on its very last day of operation on Saturday October 26 1968.
They were taken by Elvin Young, of Hempsted, who sent them in following The Citizen's appeal for interesting old photographs of the city.
A market has stood on the site in some form or other for more than 200 years.
The market hall in these images was built in the 1850s as part of reorganisation of the city's markets.
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It was a covered hall with a large decorative portico to house a daily market.
This particular building survived until the present market and shopping arcade was built.
To preserve some continuity with the past, the old portico was retained and moved further along Eastgate Street where it still stands today as the entrance to the Eastgate Shopping Centre.
The building of a new market and shopping arcade caused a lot of excitement in the local papers.
When the first stage opened in 1971, the Gloucester Journal reporter wrote that it was "bright without being brash" and "had been given a touch of luxury with a carpeted second floor".
Gloucester has a long tradition of markets that dates back into the 12th Century and probably much earlier. Originally each of the gate streets had markets often concentrating on a particular sort of product.
Street names can give us a clue about the history of the street. Bull Lane is at the top of Westgate Street, just where the records suggest that there were lots of butcher's shops in medieval times.
The Oxebode or Oxbody Lane, leading to King's Square had a history of livestock sales well into the 20th Century.
Sometimes an individual product had such a commercial importance that it was sold from a specific building.
In other cases an existing building was adapted so The Kings Board, which probably started life as an open air chapel, was used as a cheese and butter market by the late 16th Century. This building has survived and now stands in Hillfield Gardens. By the late 1780s the markets were concentrated into two sites in Southgate Street and Eastgate Street. | <urn:uuid:27f433c7-71e6-4477-868d-d197d7ff27c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Gloucester-Eastgate-Street-Market-1968/story-18433419-detail/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973559 | 578 | 2.03125 | 2 |
We know that school and university managers face an enormous responsibility with increasing pressure to strengthen campus safety. Today, educators sometimes deal with the same problems as local police — drug sales, weapons possession, and gang violence.
Besides taking care of the facility and securing the site, schools, colleges, and universities need to protect the students and staff.
When choosing an educational institutional, parents and students consider most importantly whether it represents a safe learning environment. A lapse of security may be devastating and irreversible for the school’s reputation.
Digital Security can identify potential weaknesses in campus security and create a customized security solution. It would typically include access control, video surveillance, fire and security alarm systems. All systems are monitored by our 24 hour a day Central Station and provide peace of mind to administrators, teachers, staff, students and parents.
College of The Canyons
Santa Clarita - CA
Using our security access control, it is possible to control who can access the organization, which areas they can visit, and when they can enter. It may be necessary to use electronic access control systems for entry restricted to administration, faculty and staff. These security systems can even prohibit an unidentified person from entering a school campus.
Controlling access, administrators are able to know who and when a person has entered an area. So, if a computer is removed during the weekend, the school can find out who was in the computer room from Friday through Sunday. With security access control systems it is also possible to prevent students from wandering off the site.
One of the best and most common security tools in an educational facility is CCTV digital video security cameras. To provide surveillance of remote areas, deter vandalism and theft or for general premises protection, video cameras can be installed at critical access areas such as hallways, parking lots and school entrances.
CCTV provides both a real-time and documented record of who entered a building and when. It is a perfect solution, since school security is not an eight-hour-a-day job, but one that requires attention 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Authorized administrators can also check on the school from another location, whether during school hours or at night and on weekends. In doing so, CCTV digital video security cameras can play a major role in helping protect a school campus.
By keeping unidentified people off the campus, limiting access to facilities and monitoring everything by cameras, a comprehensive security alarm system plan can cut down significantly on crime and promote a safer learning environment. | <urn:uuid:522b6bd7-950f-42db-8426-0229bb19ef63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digisec.com/educational.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94421 | 508 | 1.921875 | 2 |
I wanted to investigate the typical experience of a Cameroonian Internet user while visiting the websites of the major Internet Service Providers (ISPs). I figured that the time and energy a company puts into optimising their website for slow connections might indicate how focused they are as a company on their customers. After all, if ISPs know what bandwidth they are giving their customers then surely they will have optimised their sites to work well on those connections?
In addition I hope that this post will highlight the fact that you must optimise your site for low-bandwidth users, especially if you operate in countries with poor Internet connectivity. In fact it’s not too hard to do these days if you take a few simple steps, but first you need to be aware of the issue.
Having lived in Cameroon for the last two years I’m more than familiar with surfing on a poor unreliable connection and it staggers me that so few Cameroonian companies have made an effort to improve the user experience for the majority of people who visit their websites over these slow connections. Internet users in Cameroon either have their own 128 kbps “broadband” connection or they are at an Internet café that shares a slow connection between their users (who are all on Facebook and YouTube competing for the bandwidth available). Some are using USB dongles to access mobile data networks, but as none of the operators have a 3G license users are stuck at slower GPRS speeds with patchy coverage.
The major ISPs in Cameroon today are:
- Camtel — the state-owned incumbent who has a monopoly on all the fibre in the country and the SAT3 cable, all other ISPs must buy bandwidth from Camtel. Camtel provides Internet access via ADSL or over Wireless using CDMA.
- MTN — the mobile operator with the largest market share, providing Internet through GPRS, wireless hotspots and WiMax.
- Orange — the second largest mobile operator, providing Internet through GPRS and WiMax.
- Ringo — they claim to have more bandwidth available than their competitors (apart from Camtel). Ringo is using proprietary SCDMA based McWill technology from XinWei in China and have also started to provide wireless hotspots in the major cities.
- Matrix Telecoms — ISP using wireless technology to provide access.
- Creolink — uses cable to provide access to their customers.
I’ve tried to summarise the cheapest options for consumers from each of these ISPs in the table below.
[table “2” seems to be empty /]
As you can see 128 kbps is pretty typical, even if some providers claim to have faster speeds the actual speed is closer to 128 kbps in real world conditions. Price wise they are all pretty similar, though it’s quite a difference from the prices we are used to paying in Europe! For example, from Virgin in the UK you can pay €15 a month for a claimed 10 Mbps.
Analysis and Results
So given all of this I thought I would do a comparative analysis of the major Cameroonian ISP’s websites to see how they actually fared on a typical 128 kbps connection. I used a combination of pipes and the ipfw command on my mac (for bandwidth simulation), Page Speed/YSlow plugins for Firefox and the developer tools in Google Chrome to measure the page load results. The tools used and approach wasn’t totally scientific but they give a pretty good indication of real performance. If you are interested in running this test yourself Aptivate have a great blog post of how to do this. The metrics I measured were:
- Page load time, empty cache and primed cache
- Page size, empty cache and primed cache
- Number of HTTP Requests, empty cache and primed cache
- Page Speed Score
- YSlow Grade
The table below details the results.
A comparison of website performance of the major ISPs in Cameroon over a simulated 128kbps connection.
|Website||Page load time||Page size||Number of HTTP Requests||Page Speed Score||YSlow Grade
|http://www.matrixtelecoms.com/||15s / 4.5s||587K / 6.9K||30 / 2||86||88
|http://www.camtel.cm/||25s (50s) / 6s||339K / 0.0K||22 / 22||87||84
|http://www.mtn.cm/||28s / 7s||191K / 41.6K||20 / 20||76||80
|http://www.orange.cm/||44s / 10s||424K / 37.7K||56 / 56||75||81
|http://www.ringo.cm/||66s / 9s||746K / 10.9K||69 / 69||65||66
|http://www.creolink.cm/||66s / 21s||2171K / 96.8K||123 / 108||70||65
Note 1: Where two figures are given this is for the scenarios of an empty cache and then a primed cache.
Note 2: Page Speed and YSlow scores are out of 100.
Note 3: When the cache is empty both Camtel and Creolinks sites load at the time stated but keep loading flash content in the background consuming further bandwidth.
Note 4: The Ringo site had 26 broken links or errors that keep the browser trying to render long after the page was loaded.
Note 5: Though the HTML of the Creolink site loads quickly, flash keeps the page loading until it has downloaded over 2 MB of content.
On the whole the results are pretty disappointing and show just how out of touch with their users the ISPs really are, Matrix does best with a page load time of 15 seconds, not too bad but they still have room for improvement, in comparison it takes 10 seconds to load www.google.cm’s 174K page when the cache is empty and 1 second when primed. The results for the other websites go from bad to worse to incredible!
What is really frightening about these results is that the slowest loading sites took nearly a minute or more, surely none of their customers spend that long waiting for the sites to load or much time browsing on their pages. The big culprit in all of this is of course Flash! As far as I’m concerned it just isn’t a technology that should be used on websites, especially in low-bandwidth situations. Usually countries where bandwidth is very low the PCs being used to the access the Internet are old and slow and Flash causes even more problems as it hogs CPU, a double whammy of user pain.
Flash used on these sites to promote the ISP’s products, however because they take so long to display the user has usually moved on by the time they load so they don’t even achieve the aim that justified Flash in the fist place.
One interesting point to note is that though MTN’s site has a relatively small size in comparison to some of the other sites, with very few HTTP requests, they still take a long time to load because they redirect the browser several times, this significantly increases the total time it takes to load the page.
All the sites tested could improve their page load times by taking the recommended steps in the Page Speed and YSlow plugins, removing errors and broken HTML and mostly by removing Flash.
In conclusion we can see that most Internet Service Providers in Cameroon seem to be out of touch with their customers and pay little attention to the user experience on their websites AND Flash is very bad in low-bandwidth situations!
Does a website reflect a company’s treatment of their customers in real life? I’m curious to hear what your experience is, please leave a comment below. | <urn:uuid:d6d01512-8887-4eb0-9313-ab1fef0d912f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tenfourty.com/category/technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919607 | 1,646 | 1.515625 | 2 |
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Infinitely Big Expectations from Infinitely Small Particles
Posted: May 20, 2008
“It’s green and it flies. What is it?” is a typical question one may get from a four-year old child, and the answer is something like a flying cucumber, a jet-engine-fueled frog or Batman in a disco-outfit, although the latter is a little bit outdated for this age group. If this sounds like a silly opening for a column, try to answer this question, “It is infinitely small and has infinite opportunities. What is it?"
Without question, most people in the personal care industry will know the answer to be nanotechnology; however, few actually know anything about it. What the industry does know is that nanotechnology has infinite possibilities, along with infinite safety issues associated with it. The industry is beginning to start working on this technology so that the opportunity is not missed; therefore, nanotech ingredients are being renamed as something mega-small: mega XXL is out; nano XXXXS is in.
What actually is nanotechnology? According to Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson Center, “Nanotechnology is a catch-all term for techniques, materials and devices that operate at the nanometer scale. Being defined as the design, characterization, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nano-scale, it represents one of the most promising technologies of the 21st century and has been considered to be a new industrial revolution.”
Nanotechnology is important, but is it being used in cosmetics? Gerhard J. Nohynek, director, L'Oréal R & D, Worldwide Safety Evaluation, et al., writes: “Today, nanomaterials are increasingly used in sporting goods, tires, catalysts, electronic components, window sprays, paints, varnishes, coatings, foods, sunscreens, cosmetics and antimicrobial and antifungal preparations and are expected to be increasingly applied to the medical field in diagnosis, imaging and drug delivery.”
In cosmetics, nanoparticles are probably most well-known in sunscreens. “Nanoparticles are a subset of nano-materials and were defined as single particles with a diameter below 100 nm, although their agglomerates may be larger,” says Maynard. One of the largest applications of nanoparticles in sunscreens is where the nanoparticle diameter is normally more than 10 nm. Until now, most would have called them ultrafine inorganic sunfilters but that term does not include the gigantic opportunity of nanoparticles. And that opportunity is indeed gigantic, as the global production of nanoparticles for sunscreen products was estimated to be approximately 1,000 tons during 2003–2004 and principally consists of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) particles. | <urn:uuid:fd0e36d2-f313-4289-8880-a67b738bcdba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/regulatory/nanotech/19110009.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954808 | 634 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Making roads safer for pedestrians
Automotive Industries spoke to Ian Finney, managing director of Concept Mouldings
EU legislation now bans the fitting and selling of old style metal bull bars and encouraging new, energy absorbing Frontal Protection Systems which enhance the safety of vehicles.
The UK Minister of State for Transport has confirmed it is illegal to continue to manufacture, market non approved metal bull bars (no sale is necessary to be breaking the law) and sell metal bull bars that do not comply with the new EU legislation (Directive 2005/66/EC) for pedestrian protection. The maximum penalty to be imposed within the UK is 12 months in prison and a substantial £20,000 fine.
By 2012, all automotive manufacturers selling vehicles in the EU will have to incorporate pedestrian protection within their vehicles. For the UK-based Concept Mouldings Ltd (CML), this is good news as its revolutionary Endura Frontal Protection System (FPS) meets the requisite EU specifications within all disciplines of pedestrian protection and according to the Vehicle Certification Agency, CML is the only UK manufacturer known to have developed a non-rigid FPS that has been demonstrated to comply with the requirements of the EU legislation.
According to CML, its Endura FPS makes vehicles up to 50 times safer for vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. Endura technology has been tested since 1991 on a wide range of vehicles including light commercial vehicles (LCVs), 4x4s and SUVs. CML claims that its latest Endura FPS model reduces the risk of head injury from over 99 per cent in the worst case down to less than 1 per cent. Risk of injury to the pelvic and abdomen, upper leg and lower leg is also substantially reduced, in line with the requirements for 2012
CML says that Frontal Protection Systems are the natural successor to the notorious bull bars but instead of making vehicles more dangerous, they make them safer. The composite materials used absorb massive amounts of energy and protect pedestrians from hard parts at the front of vehicles, such as the bonnet leading edge, radiator and engine, whilst still offering protection to the vehicle in an impact situation.
CML specializes in creative engineering solutions for the automotive industry (OEM) based on sophisticated molding and tooling technology. For over 15 years, CML has successfully serviced the automotive industry, manufacturing and supplying vehicle moldings and accessories. For over 10 years, CML has supplied, (using their patented technology), Land Rover with FPSs on a variety of models including the Land Rover P38A Range Rover. As time progressed, CML expanded the program to supply bespoke products for additional models such as the V6 Freelander, Defender and also the Discovery models..
CML offers retrofit options as well as products that can be integrated into the vehicle design prior to manufacture. The company holds world patents and patents pending on a number of such integrated solutions and says it is actively seeking joint ventures with research, technology and manufacturing partners to assist in integrating passive and active pedestrian safety solutions.
Having proven pedestrian risk of injury can be minimized by the use of energy absorbing technology, CML believe its active and passive solutions could employ the Endura FPS to active pre-collision positions and integrate simultaneous deployment of airbags, to protect the pedestrian from the vehicle windscreen, which they believe will make a real difference to real world accidents for the vulnerable road user.
The dipping of vehicle front and deployment of airbags encourages the pedestrian over the vehicle bonnet onto a safer cushioned surface, thus putting the pedestrian into a controlled area on the vehicle. Simultaneous deploying airbags also reduces the risk of pedestrians being forced under the wheels of a vehicle. In a vehicle-to-vehicle impact situation the cost of repair would be greatly reduced as air bags would only deploy when a vulnerable road user is detected within the crash zone and the extra energy absorbing surface would minimize vehicle damage to both vehicles .
A number of current vehicle designs already have molded fronts, so all or parts of the system outlined above could be incorporated. This would allow vehicle manufacturers to retain their creative freedom upon frontal design and distinctive image with little change to the external appearance of the vehicle.
Integrating the above will certainly contribute to saving countless lives and serious injuries across Europe.
“Historically, fleet companies have focused on minimizing the costs of running a fleet of company vehicles. Crashes cause a number of direct and hidden costs, such as vehicle repair, replacement and lost productivity. However, as changing online shopping habits lead to more vehicles in residential areas, the risk to pedestrians and children in particular is increasing. Fleet owners will now be able to meet corporate social responsibility goals by doing everything they can to make its vehicles safer for vulnerable road users and start saving lives, while at the same time gaining a spin off benefit of reducing vehicle damage and related costs, reducing insurance claims and time off the road,” says CML.
Automotive Industries spoke to Ian Finney, managing director of Concept Mouldings.
AI: How will pedestrian safety legislation impact the front-end design of all vehicles?
Finney: Vehicles are being designed to meet the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) standards for pedestrian protection which require sloping fronts and large bumper areas to minimize injury to the pedestrian leg and pelvic areas. We believe, with our “out the box thinking” vehicle designs can be maintained with individual styling needs and still meet the pressing requirements for pedestrian safety, without affecting occupant safety which has evolved upon vehicles over recent years. Global engineering solutions are required to meet the real world accident statistics which are rising in both the developed and under developed world.
AI: Please tell us a little bit about CML’s R&D efforts that helped design the Endura FPS.
Finney: Concept Mouldings have been working with pedestrian protection technology since the early 1990’s. The adverse publicity regarding “Metal Bull Bars” stimulated our thought process to develop a product that did not exacerbate the problems of the vehicles themselves but to enhance the safety of the vehicle for vulnerable road users with the introduction of energy absorbing surfaces.
Utilizing our experience gained from previous developments of FPSs, we launched into the aftermarket. We immediately began to identify how for both niche and volume applications these energy absorbing systems could make a real difference to pedestrian safety.
The revolutionary technology within Endura is not incorporated with the sole purpose of being an aftermarket item. The composite material absorbs considerable amounts of energy, working efficiently within a given packaging space. The energy is absorbed locally to overcome the inertia of the products overall weight and then continues to absorb energy throughout impact, before the stiffer structures are required to maintain occupant safety in a vehicle-to-vehicle, higher speed impact.
Throughout this extensive learning process we have patented the innovative solutions. We recognize that to incorporate such solutions within vehicle design we need technology partners and a vehicle manufacturer to orchestrate its required technology partners in making the difference to pedestrian safety.
AI: What are some of the other technologies CML is working on for pedestrian and other auto-related safety measures?
Finney: We are currently evaluating vehicles outside the M1 and N1 classification to verify if a bus or HGV integrated with Endura technology could absorb the energy of a pedestrian when involved in a front end collision. As demonstrated previously, Endura technology can absorb the energy from a vehicle with a mass of 3.5 tonne, meaning if we can keep the pedestrian on the vehicle after the initial impact. Consequently, if we counteract the weight of the vehicle and thus the only energy which needs to be absorbed is to minimize the risk of injury whilst the pedestrian changes direction and is moved along with the vehicle.
AI: How popular do you expect your FPS to be in non-EU countries?
Finney: The problem of pedestrian safety is global; I believe that once there is consumer acceptance within Europe, these energy absorbing surfaces which enhance pedestrian safety will soon cross the boundaries of Europe to Japan and USA.
As pedestrian friendly technology becomes more common place - the developing world will be the next target as road infrastructures and traffic calming measures are unreal and statistics upon pedestrian safety are horrific.
AI: What are some of the other automotive-related products CML hopes to launch this year?
Finney: We are in the process of designing bespoke Endura Frontal Protection Systems for vehicle manufactures. Vehicle manufacturers will then have the opportunity to improve its Euro NCAP scores by providing the FPS widely across Europe. We aim to develop a number of other complimentary products for the accessory market which will build and raise further awareness of the Endura brand.
Automotive Industries also spoke to Selwyn Rowley and Paul Wareham, public relations executives with LMMC who represent CML.
AI: How has CML’s FPS changed the face of pedestrian safety?
Rowley: While great progress has been made in improving vehicle occupant safety over the past decade car manufacturers’ improvements in reducing the level of damage when their vehicles hit pedestrians have been meager by comparison.
Euro NCAP the independent European crash test program can take massive credit for moving vehicle safety higher up the agenda but even this influential organization has expressed frustration at the speed of progress in pedestrian safety.
Euro NCAP Chairman Claes Tingvall said: “I am continually disappointed by the lack of commitment and effort shown by manufacturers to improving the level of pedestrian protection in their vehicles. This is an area where there are few frontrunners and massive room for improvement.”
In contrast, Concept Mouldings spurred by a strong belief in the huge potential for making vehicles safer has spent the past ten years developing its unique, patented, plastic molded, energy absorbing structures for the fronts of vehicles. The company has risen to the challenges of EU legislation and a testing regime that is stricter for Frontal Protection Systems than it is for the vehicles they are fitted to. As a result of this pioneering work the company has successfully produced and tested a range of aftermarket FPS products for the most popular SUVs, 4 x 4’s and vans which have demonstrated massive benefits and exceeded the targets set by legislators.
Independent test results have shown that the performance of these vehicles is improved by around 50 times when compared with the vehicle without the FPS. The fitting of a Concept Mouldings Endura FPS has been proven to make a life or death difference in an accident and to reduce the severity of injuries to the head, abdomen and lower leg when compared to the performance of the vehicle without an FPS. The dramatic improvements are achieved by protecting the pedestrian from hard parts at the front of the vehicle such as bonnet leading edge, the radiator and the engine.
The importance of this range of products is underlined by the statistics produced for the EU by the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory which show that currently 900 pedestrians and cyclists are killed on UK roads each year and across Europe the figures rise to more than 12,000. An even more sobering statistic is the fact that each year in Europe a staggering 290,000 pedestrians and cyclists are seriously injured in road traffic accidents.
While the importance of the Endura aftermarket products is significant Concept Mouldings believes that there is room for further improvement through the integration of Endura technology in future vehicle design. The company believes that the introduction of energy absorbing components at the front of vehicles will help maintain design diversity while making vehicles safer for vulnerable road users. Concept’s vision for the future includes the combination of Endura’s energy absorbing properties with sensors and airbag deployment to actively protect the pedestrian in an impact.
AI: What are some of the issues involved in creating such a FPS?
Wareham: The high incidence of severe pedestrian injuries and deaths has been the primary driver for Concept Mouldings. As a result, rather than seeking minimum improvements to meet coming EU legislation the objective has been to develop products which produce the maximum benefits. The company’s development work has looked to produce improvements in each area where a vehicle comes into contact with a pedestrian – the lower leg, the abdomen and pelvis and the head.
The challenge has always been to make a product which can absorb the maximum amount of energy while having the necessary rigidity to protect the pedestrian from the vehicle hard parts. Metal bull bars, from which these systems evolved had severe limitations in absorbing energy and had a tendency to concentrate forces in an impact. Early FPS designs consequently were based on providing a soft energy absorbing surface over a metal frame. However, while representing some improvement this was not nearly enough for Concept Mouldings and the real breakthrough came with innovations in rotational molding which combined a soft touch finish with an energy absorbing plastic core to maximize energy absorbency. Further refinement has evolved through a process of innovation and testing to meet the requirements of different designs of vehicles.
AI: What do you think the reaction of the motoring public will be to CML’s FPS?
Rowley: If knowledge was perfect and everyone understood the benefits of adding this product most car owners would want to fit one. Who can argue with the possibility of saving children’s lives of reducing the incidence of horrendous, debilitating injuries? So the important task is one of education and we must make as many people as possible aware of the benefits. Changes in the law will also help. From the 25th of May this year it is illegal to manufacture and sell the old fashioned wrap around metal bull bars. Further support may also come from the insurance industry as it becomes clear that claims from pedestrian collisions and minor bumps and scrapes are reduced significantly by the application of an FPS. The corporate audience driven by corporate social responsibility and a duty of care is also important. As the owners of fleets of vans and other large 4 x4s , SUVs and MPVs become more aware it is anticipated that pressure to fit these devices will increase.
Support for new bull bars
“The results of the MIRA tests make impressive reading, especially in a manufacturing sector where the design, shape, height and ridged frontal construction of vehicles such as LGVs and SUVs does not readily lend itself to pedestrian protection following a collision.
Safety is an important factor for those who choose SUVs as family transport and many will be concerned that post – crash levels of protection for occupants are not matched by those for pedestrians. The MIRA test results clearly show that it is possible to produce and fit protection systems which significantly reduce the level of injury likely to be sustained by pedestrians and the RAC foundation for Motoring welcomes this development.”
Kevin Delaney, Head of Traffic and Road Safety Policy, RAC Foundation.
“As a member of EuroNCAP, Thatcham is a very strong supporter of pedestrian safety initiatives. This innovative development provides a significant improvement in the pedestrian performance of Frontal Protection Systems and Thatcham applauds Concept Mouldings for their work in improving pedestrian safety in this area.
Thatcham also encourages SUV/Pickup manufacturers and other aftermarket suppliers of these types of products to consider pedestrian safety performance in the future product development programmes.”
Andrew Miller, Director of Research, Thatcham.
“The Concept Mouldings’ FPS has shown very good performance in MIRA tests and already meets the requirements of the European Directive 2005/66/EC which will be effective from May 2007.Because of the good energy absorption capacity the FPS will definitely reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries in the case of (unfair) collisions with vulnerable road users. The FIA Foundation welcomes this development which will reduce human tragedy and contribute to the target of the European Commission to reduce road traffic fatalities in the EU by 50% in 2010 compared to 2000."
Frank van West, Technical Director, FIA Foundation. | <urn:uuid:b4f3b8f3-adec-416b-b256-f1729ce43481> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ai-online.com/Adv/Previous/show_issue.php?id=1896 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950182 | 3,222 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Schuylerville: scene of two Revolutionary War battles (1777) in which American forces led by Gates defeated the British under Burgoyne
prob. of Mohawk orig.
See Saratoga in American Heritage Dictionary 4
A former village of eastern New York on the west bank of the Hudson River east of Saratoga Springs. The defeat and surrender of Gen. John Burgoyne's British army on October 17, 1777, marked the end of the hard-fought Saratoga Campaign (June-October) and was a major turning point in the American Revolution. | <urn:uuid:5d9204a3-ff31-45b6-a45c-724c91f8b9bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yourdictionary.com/saratoga | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96729 | 121 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Marie Wallace has enjoyed a fulfilling career as a librarian, beginning in 1951 in academia with the University of California and transitioning in 1971 into the private law library world until her 1995 retirement from O'Melveny & Myers. She is the 1997 recipient of the American Association of Law Libraries' highest honor, the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award. Throughout her professional life, Marie has been a guiding force in the Southern California Association of Law Libraries, Practising Law Institute's programs for law librarians and Teaching Legal Research in Private Law Libraries (TRIPLL).
Today, Marie has commenced on a new path she terms "Life in Progress," which enables her to pursue a diversity of interests as a master swimmer, law librarian, trainer, storyboarder and designer of wearable art. She continues to be a dynamic speaker and prolific writer on such topics as private law library management, presentations and training. She is a member of Toastmasters International and is active with the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) and in continuing education for private law librarians. She devotes her "free" time to various non-profit and civic activities. Always open to new ideas, Marie can be reached at: firstname.lastname@example.org.
(Archived August 15, 1998)
|Have you ever lamented "Nobody knows what I do"? If
so, it may signal that you need to explore the elevator speech. Most people ride an
elevator several times a day. Each ride is a 30 second (more or less) opportunity for
publicity and public relations.
It is significant that the elevator was created to move people. The Greek mathematician Archimedes is reputed to have invented it in the third century B.C. but Elisha Otis designed the first one with a safety mechanism. Probably neither was thinking about building a ubiquitous environment for communication when he perfected his invention. Today, many people regularly use the elevator to promote "self" and "mutual" interests. It is there for everyone: partner, employee, employer, client executive, dean, professor, judge, D.A., or student. Brief, sincere messages move people toward their goals.
The scenario starts something like this. You and the CEO, who you have been wanting to talk with, get on the elevator. The CEO says "How are things going?" or "What are you up to?" You beam and respond. "Solving our biggest problem, how to reduce the operating budget. I have some six figure ideas would you like to hear them?"
The elevator speech is versatile. It is there for you to use for a variety of purposes:
|You are in line somewhere and recognize a new department head. Take the
opportunity to introduce yourself and let her know how your work is related to her
department. You encounter a colleague you want to work with on a professional program as
you register at the conference hotel. Let him know what you have in mind. Create your Web
page so the HTML meta tags are designed to bring browsers face-to-face with you for a
brief exchange in cyberspace--an electronic version of the elevator speech.
The idea can be used to "link up" any place where there is likely to be serendipity and a captive audience plus you are ready to communicate strategically:
The structure of an elevator speech is similar to a prepared speech. There is an opening, body and ending but the organization is very tight. It is no time to ramble, tell stories, provide extraneous detail or be unclear about objectives. You need to be brief, clear, enthusiastic and candid. Speak the other person's language and avoid using your own professional jargon. Try to differentiate yourself from your competition.
Plan to ride the elevator a few minutes before or after "rush" hour as the elevator speech is not suitable for a full house. You want a private not a public conversation plus there may be confidentiality aspects to what you want to say. Just as the elevator goes up or down, your role may change. You may be the initiator eliciting information from the other party or you may be the responder providing the information.
Although the elevator speech is essentially an improvisation, there are ways to prepare:
The elevator speech is an "opportunity to move up"--to rise and shine. To paraphrase American Express, "Don't leave home with out it." It is your personal leavening agent. | <urn:uuid:45281174-6a1b-4b55-be6e-7e03a2b6411c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.llrx.com/node/1405/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954971 | 925 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to the tribal youth of Jharkhand to participate in politics as this was “the only solution” to their problems.
He spent about an hour with activists of the National Students Union of India. “Make the Jharkhand government your own. If the government does not listen, I will support you and open the doors of our organisation.” During the interactive session, he focused on the development of the tribal youth.
First, Mr. Gandhi visited Dumka district, then he went to Hazaribag and finally arrived to here. He interacted with students and some retired Heavy Engineering Corporation workers. He said the tribal youth should make their voice heard politically at the panchayat-level, State-level and even in the national plane and “see how the world will response to their queries. No leader will be imposed on you and you can choose your own.” | <urn:uuid:b3e64a2e-3078-4a97-824c-0818a0064625> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/take-part-in-politics-rahul-tells-tribal-youth-in-jharkhand/article902102.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972464 | 193 | 1.5 | 2 |
May 17th, 2013 World Information Society Day May 17th, 2013 National Defense Transportation Day May 18th, 2013 Armed Forces Day May 19th, 2013 Pentecost May 20th, 2013 Whit Monday May 21st, 2013 World Day for Cultural Diversity May 22nd, 2013 World Biological Diversity Day May 22nd, 2013 National Maritime Day May 25th, 2013 African Liberation Day May 26th, 2013 Trinity Sunday May 27th, 2013 Jefferson Davis Birthday May 27th, 2013 Memorial Day May 29th, 2013 International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers May 30th, 2013 Corpus Christi May 31st, 2013 World No Tobacco Day June 1st, 2013 Statehood Day June 3rd, 2013 Jefferson Davis Birthday June 4th, 2013 World Day for Child Victims of Aggression June 5th, 2013 World Environment Day June 6th, 2013 Isra and Mi'raj June 8th, 2013 World Oceans Day June 11th, 2013 Kamehameha Day June 12th, 2013 World Day Against Child Labour June 14th, 2013 Flag Day June 14th, 2013 World Blood Donor Day June 16th, 2013 Father's Day June 17th, 2013 World Day to Combat Desertification June 17th, 2013 Bunker Hill Day
Rare Bamana Male Shaman Mali African Africa Tribal, No Reserve For Sale
A very rare Bamana figure depicting a older male holding a horn and a pouch of ritualistic substance. The hunched shoulders are quite rare in Bamana art. The figure is quite impressive and has a wonderful presence. His face is serine and powerful. I hope the photos do him justice. Made from very heavy and dense wood. the last photo shows other items I am selling. Size: Height: 26" (66cm) width: 7" depth: 6" 11 lbs. (5kg)Provenance- Purchased from private Belgian collector several years ago. I have no other information. It is an outstanding example of African craftsmanship and artistry. I will never make a claim a specific age or tribal usage unless I have
iron-clad documentation (and as we all know even that can be false).
Have you noticed some sellers here who have sold over 4000 items and
have listed them all as "early 20th century?"
Additional Information: I have paid quite a bit for my collection over the years but will set a low starting price and let you decide what they are worth to you. The low starting price is not an indication of low value. These pieces are beautiful, quality collector’s items.Shipping: I am trying the shipping calculator again. You pay only the actual shipping charge (no handling fee). If the amount displayed looks wrong it probably is. Please do not hesitate to contact me.
I will gladly combine shipping to save you money on multiple items.
International Customers Welcome: Please Note: customs charges as import duties, and/or taxes are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. These charges ( not additional shipping charges!) are collected upon delivery in your country. Please contact your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs may be prior to offerding/buying. Merchandise will not be marked below value or as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior. Do not confuse customs duty with shipping charges.
This item has been shown times.
Rare Bamana Male Shaman Mali African Africa Tribal, No Reserve: $169 | <urn:uuid:b4b21374-d940-4a41-a048-2ba15563132d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://holidays.net/store/RARE-Bamana-Male-Shaman-Mali-African-Africa-tribal%2C-no-reserve_140925815505.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93434 | 705 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Laser coding and printing specialist DataLase along with US company Intermec and NASA have collaborated in the launch of a selection of marked RFID tags and aluminium discs into space.
The experiment forms part of NASA's latest research aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and will test the durability of DataLase marking techniques under the extreme conditions of space.
The tags and discs have been marked with 2D codes and text and will be attached to the outside of the ISS for a full year. During this time, they will be exposed to extreme levels of ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, hard vacuum and contamination.
Researchers chose the DataLase GUARDMARK solution for this job because of its capacity to create high-quality, indelible marks capable of withstanding the extreme conditions found in space. The technique achieves a faster and higher quality print than traditional inkjet marking counterparts. Marks created are also indelible and tamper proof says the company.
Steve Kelly, CEO at DataLase, explained: "Everyone involved with the project is very proud to be part of NASA mission. We have always believed our technology provides customers with a greater quality of marking than inkjet printing technologies, and it is gratifying to be recognized by technology leaders such as NASA. We are confident our solution will stand up to the rigorous requirements and look forward to undertaking continued programs with NASA and related bodies."
The components aboard were marked using a laser beam to create identification images on DataLase's colour change labeling. The marked Intermec parts that survive the 12-month period will return to Earth for further evaluation and testing. Should the DataLase markings perform as expected, the technology will be added to NASA's list of part identification requirements and will be used to track and trace parts and equipment on future space missions. DataLase systems will also be added to the approved list of identification requirements used by the US Armed Forces. The technology could then be rapidly integrated into existing manufacturing systems within organisations including the US Navy and Department of Defense for the tracking of weapons and equipment. | <urn:uuid:9995a318-6cb6-4df4-8008-c4e1234b083d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mwrf.com/content/rfid-tags-take-space-trip-test-durability | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925889 | 420 | 2.6875 | 3 |
I was sitting in my favorite Chinese restaurant a while back when a prominent minister showed up on CNN. He was being interviewed because he allowed a senator to speak at an AIDS conference held by this minister’s church. It was just another sound bite until I heard the minister say about this leader, “He is a man of good character.”
That statement really sent me spinning. What? This senator is known for supporting and enacting many things that are against Christianity and even the Bible. Sure this senator is popular, but how does this pastor know “he is a man of good character”?
The truth is he does not know. Only God knows fully the hearts of men and women, and it takes us a lot of time to fully know a person. I live by a two-year rule. If you know someone for at least two years, you will just then have gone through enough life situations to get a good picture of their character.
Why two years? During that time, you will be around them as they express and experience things like victory and defeat, loss and success, rejection and hate, along with love and acceptance. You will see them act alone and in full view of the public. You will see how they treat those they say they love the most. You will see where they spend their money, and you will see whether what they say matches up to what they do. Anyone can say the right words and act the right way for a short period of time, but the genuine person will eventually be revealed.
You see, if the person you are relating to has bad character, it will rub off on you. Don’t be deceived to think you are stronger than them, that you can resist. Your sin nature will attract to theirs, and like a bug to a bug light, you will get zapped. I like what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” Who you connect with is who you will become, just give it time.
The bottom line is that we need wisdom in our relationships. Wisdom helps us make good choices at the right time. It helps us to say the right words in the right way so that those that hear them will receive them and be better off because of them. Wisdom helps us avoid embarrassing mistakes and from jumping to conclusions without knowledge of the facts. True character is discerned through wisdom. Wisdom is not concerned with doing but with being, thus it’s not easy to spot. So look for people with steady demeanor and attitude. Are they humble or self-centered? Are they genuine or deceptive?
Humility is the primary key to wisdom. You can’t gain or enact wisdom without it. Also, does this person hide in the shadows of life using excuses as their flash light to draw your attention away from the real problems? A genuine person will admit when they are wrong and learn from it. They are sincere and seek the other person’s good over their own. Remember, the decisions you make each day are the individual building blocks to your life. Make no mistake, if you lay a block the wrong way, it will have to be fixed or it will limit how high you can go.
The Apostle Paul’s words: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding” (Colossians 1:9).
Character comes from wisdom. Over the years of being a Christian, I have found few things that pull my life back into alignment quicker than fasting. Few things in life are more accurate in showing the real me than fasting. Just go without food for two days, and you will see the real you. You might get bummed out. You might get snappy. You might shut down. People turn off to the world and in the process find themselves again in God.
Food and water are essential to living. They sustain, grow and develop life. They also can mask the reality of a person’s heart and soul. Paul told the Corinth Church this: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5) What better way to see how much Christ is actually in you than to fast. When you go without food, you put yourself under a test to see how much you profess is actually personal. It pulls out the influence of this world and replaces it with godly influence.
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
A carefully guided tour through the confusing world of modern bookselling and publishing.
Empowering mind/body/spirit and health dialogue along with cutting-edge, conscious social, political, and world commentary with Adam Omkara. Join the Evolution!
A politically conservative and morally liberal Hebrew alpha male hunts left-wing viper
World's Ugliest Dog Contest
Spelling Bee finale
Marines train Afghan soldiers
Rolling Thunder 2013
Benghazi: The anatomy of a scandal | <urn:uuid:d37b8993-7236-4c53-9c24-e5662df1daf0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/jul/2/dont-rush-to-judgment-good-or-bad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961719 | 1,074 | 1.5 | 2 |
Linda Scruggs is a middle-aged African American woman from the Baltimore area who has been HIV-positive for 22 years.
This week, she stood where Hillary Clinton, Elton John, and Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health stood – before the scientists and delegates to the International AIDS meeting in the nation's capital.
Washington, D.C., is a city with an HIV prevalence comparable to that of some third world countries, and the rates are even higher among African Americans.
Scruggs did not have the weight of government money, the latest science or star power. But her message brought thousands at the AIDS conference to their feet for a rare standing ovation.
Her message is a simple idea -- to change the focus on an HIV research and advocacy community that critics say is too focused on men.
"Treatment and systems were not designed for us; [they were] designed for a gay male society," she said. "No one was thinking about us."
The message comes at a time when most newly infected individuals are heterosexual women and when black women comprise one of the fastest growing demographics affected by HIV in the United States. However, Scruggs said, she sees a lack of female leadership in her community and at the national level. She believes that if the majority of persons living with AIDS are women, then the international organizations tasked with ending AIDS should have a greater percentage of women.
"We need to change the game, because the game is broke," she said, adding that the international response "must meaningfully involve women at all levels of authority" including government, corporate, and local levels. An important part of creating an AIDS free generation will be educating young women, she said, and that this should begin "when we birth our daughters into the world."
The concern over the plight of U.S. women with AIDS was echoed by many who spoke to the same problem on the global stage.
Rao Gupta of UNICEF said 3 million of the 4.8 million young people worldwide living with HIV are girls.
"These adolescent girls… represent an unfinished agenda in the AIDS response and our greatest hope for turning the tide of the epidemic," Gupta said, adding that educating girls aged 10-14 before they become sexually active is a top priority.
But perhaps the group of women living with AIDS whose voices are least noticed are prostitutes and other female sex workers. Since these women, along with IV drug users, are banned from getting a visa to enter the United States, an alternative AIDS conference was organized in Kolkata, India. There, sex workers from 40 countries gathered to protest their inability to enter the U.S. to demand greater rights for sex workers.
The task of making their voices heard in Washington, D.C., rested on the shoulders of Cheryl Overs, an activist for sex workers' rights who spoke at the conference. She criticized radical religious groups, the police, academia and governments -- institutions that she said purport to "help" sex workers but which often do more harm to these women than good. She said that when police arrest or detain sex workers, little is done for these women afterward, which inevitably leads them back to sex work.
"We need a law that gets commercial sex work out of dangerous places and into safe ones," Overs said. | <urn:uuid:867bb59e-4143-4f87-8e19-80c6f2106741> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AIDS/women-demand-aids-fight/story?id=16875699 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96889 | 684 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Discover Outer Space at Goldendale Observatory State Park
May 20, 2012, 5:22 p.m.
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to attend "Discover Outer Space" – a Centennial event to view the transit of Venus across the sun at Goldendale Observatory State Park in Klickitat County.
The event runs from 3 p.m. to sunset June 5 at Goldendale Observatory State Park, 1602 Observatory Drive in Goldendale. In a rare celestial event, the orbit of Venus is traveling past the face of the sun. Visitors have the opportunity to watch this transit live from the observatory" solar telescope. Video from the telescope will be displayed on the large screen monitor in the interpretive center indoor theater. Venus last crossed the face of the sun in 2004. The event will not happen again until December 2117. The Discover Pass is required to attend this event.
Discover Outer Space is one of many Centennial 2013 events leading up to the park system's 100th birthday in 2013. Events include park fun days, tours, demonstrations, cultural, music and arts events, interpretive activities, recreation days and more. Upcoming events are Discover Health and Adventure – Deception Pass Challenge, a triathlon fitness challenge at Deception Pass State Park on June 16 and Discover Riverside, an open house-style park fun day at Riverside State Park on June 24. For information about State Parks events in this 100th celebration year, visit www.parks.wa.gov/events and watch for reminders on State Parks social media.
Goldendale Observatory State Park also is offering a viewing of the partial lunar eclipse from 2:30 to 5:15 a.m. June 4. During the event, one-third of the moon will be covered by Earth's shadow. Visitors have an opportunity to see the reddish hue of the eclipsed third of the moon through the observatory's telescopes. For more information, call (509) 773-3141.
June is Washington State Great Outdoors Month. Enjoy Washington's many recreational activities and celebrate the month dedicated to environmental stewardship and the appreciation of the outdoors. Many state parks will play host to a variety of events in June. Visit www.parks.wa.gov/events, www.facebook.com/WashingtonStateParks and www.twitter.com/WaStatePks_NEWS for information about events at Washington state parks.
Goldendale Observatory State Park is a five-acre educational facility on a 2,100-foot-high hilltop, 1.5 miles north of Main Street in the city of Goldendale. The observatory houses one of the nation's largest public telescopes, featuring a 24-inch Cassegrain reflecting telescope. Sky-watchers have viewed the universe at the observatory since its opening in 1973. The park offers views of the countryside from atop the observatory hill in the daytime and views of the space at night. | <urn:uuid:513a8ee0-729a-482e-bc3d-d9d034d4b5fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northwestprimetime.com/news/2012/may/20/discover-outer-space-goldendale-observatory-state-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906319 | 601 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Thierry Legault / Astrophoto.fr
French astrophotographer Thierry Legault captured this view of the Hubble Space Telescope passing over the sun's disk during this week's transit of Venus. The circles highlight the Hubble on multiple exposures taken every tenth of a second during the telescope's 0.9-second transit.
Over the past few days, we've seen lots of amazing photos showing Venus' last-in-a-lifetime crossing of the sun, but this shot of the Hubble Space Telescope zooming past Venus may be the only picture of its kind.
It's actually a combination of photographs, snapped every tenth of a second by master astrophotographer Thierry Legault. Nine speck-sized images of Hubble are highlighted with circles in the image. Legault, who is famed for his pictures of spacecraft transits across the sun, traveled from his home base in France to northern Australia for the shot.
After conducting the calculations with CalSky software, Legault made sure he was in Queensland at 01:42:25 UTC June 6, pointing his Takahashi FSQ-106ED telescope at the sun with the proper filters attached. "Thanks to the continuous shooting mode of the Nikon D4 DSLR running at 10 fps [frames per second], nine images of the HST were recorded during its 0.9s transit (1/8000s, 100 iso, raw mode). Turbulence was moderate to high," Legault reported on his website.
You read that right: While it took Venus more than six hours to inch its way in front of the solar disk, the Hubble Space Telescope zipped across in just nine-tenths of a second. Imagine how disappointing it would have been to have a cloud in the way at that moment!
Legault is promising more pictures of Venus, taken during the transit and afterward. But it'll be hard to match this one. The next transit of Venus won't occur until the year 2117, and even though Hubble has long outlasted its projected lifetime, the space telescope will surely be sent down to its fiery doom by then. So chances are this is the only picture that will ever be taken of Hubble and Venus simultaneously silhouetted by the sun.
By the way, Hubble was conducting its own transit tasks during Venus' crossing. Hubble focused on the moon and analyzed the reflected sunlight to find out how easy it will be for future telescopes to pick out the spectral signature of Earthlike planets passing over alien suns. Stay tuned for more about the results of that experiment.
Where in the Cosmos
This picture served as today's photo puzzle for our "Where in the Cosmos" contest, open to Cosmic Log Facebook followers. It took just a couple of minutes for Ollie Nanyes to tell me what those little specks represented. For being so quick on the draw, I'm sending Nanyes a pair of 3-D glasses donated by Microsoft Research's WorldWide Telescope project. Kent Avery, the runner-up in the guessing game, is getting 3-D specs as well. (Microsoft is a partner along with NBC Universal in the msnbc.com joint venture.)
The cardboard-and-cellophane glasses I'm sending Nanyes and Avery will be wrapped up in a 3-D picture of yours truly, but there are other, more interesting 3-D space pictures online. This Cosmic Log 3-D archive points you to some stunners. Click the "like" button on the Cosmic Log Facebook page, and you too may be eligible for some 3-D glasses goodness in the weeks to come. Just for fun, go full-screen on this simulated 3-D view of the transit from the National Solar Observatory Integrated Synoptic Program:
This is a simulated 3-D view of the Venus transit, prepared in advance of the event by the National Solar Observatory Integrated Synoptic Program, or NISP.
More wonders from Thierry Legault:
- Falling satellite seen from Earth
- Last looks at the shuttle in orbit
- Spaceships get their day in the sun
- Sun gets double-crossed
- Still more from Legault's website
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds. | <urn:uuid:c6e8ac3c-9d39-4d27-a7bc-ba57e8274215> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/08/12127375-in-one-of-a-kind-photo-hubble-and-venus-cross-sun?chromedomain=cosmiclog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951266 | 934 | 2.484375 | 2 |
A breakthrough in small, high-powered magnets could lead to handheld magnetic resonance scanners with similar capabilities to those of today's room-sized medical and scientific instruments.
According to a report in MIT Technology Review, Doctor Federico Casanova and colleagues at the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) in Aachen have built a 500-gramme magnet about the size of a D-cell battery which can generate a 0.7 Tesla field. This is still substantially less than the multi-Tesla fields required for MRI scans, but Casanova thinks that his design could be enhanced up to 2 Tesla in future.
This could mean that a lot of procedures which nowadays involve sending samples off to labs or patients to hospitals could instead be done in the field using devices no bigger than a Star Trek Tricorder.
Doctors or paramedics could use the new portable magno-scanners to check blood or other samples on the spot. Small, affordable instruments could check drugs and vaccines for quality as they were made. Archaeologists and other field researchers would be able to analyse finds immediately, rather than waiting until their return - perhaps as a result being able to direct their efforts much more efficiently.
Small nuclear magnetic resonance components might also be a boon to the brain-hurting field of quantum computing, in which boffins seek to make a computer running on qubits which might have any value rather than regular dull bits which are 1 or 0. One method under consideration here is the use of the spin state of a molecule as a qubit, which requires the use of very strong magnets.
IBM boffins have built a small 7-qubit magno-quantum computer in the past, and if such research leads on to bigger things Casanova-style teeny ultramagnets would potentially reduce the size and cost of tomorrow's quantum computers substantially.
There would also, perhaps, be applications in other areas such as the "cloaking" of warships' magnetic signature so as to make them safer from mines, and possibly also in plasma rockets able to carry astronauts to Mars in just months. Not to mention the possibility of building a brainscanning hat (able to warn of an imminent mistake made by the wearer) which would actually be portable, unlike the current model which weighs several tons.
Then, it should also be noted that efforts are underway in the US to deploy magnetic-resonance scanners in airports so as to allow people once again to take copious amounts of liquid aboard aeroplanes.
Good stuff all round then: well done those boffins. The Tech Review piece is here | <urn:uuid:8be19abd-172c-43c0-b967-65a12f17099d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ditl.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=5689 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957393 | 544 | 3.359375 | 3 |
A measure of the degree to which a hedge fund's returns are
correlated to the broader financial market. A figure of 1 would be a perfect
correlation, while 0 would be no correlation and minus-1 would be a perfect
inverse correlation. Any figure below 0.3 is considered non-correlated.
The result is used to determine whether a hedge fund follows a market-neutral
investment strategy. Sometimes referred to as "R."
Rate of return
The annual appreciation in the value of a fund or any other
type of investment, stated as a percentage of the total amount invested.
Sometimes referred to a simply the "return."
A charge, intended to discourage withdrawals that a hedge-fund
manager levies against investors when they cash in their shares in the
fund before a specified date
A provision in the Securities Act of 1933 that allows privately
placed transactions to take place without SEC registration and prohibits
hedge funds from advertising themselves to the general public. It also
outlines which parties qualify as company insiders.
Regulation D investment strategy
An approach in which the fund manager provides financing to
publicly traded companies, usually in exchange for a privately placed
convertible note issued at a discount. Also known as PIPES (private investments
in public entities).
Relative-value investment strategy
A market-neutral investment strategy that seeks to identify
investments whose values are attractive, compared to similar securities,
when risk, liquidity and return are taken into account.
Risk arbitrage investment strategy
Purchasing stocks of companies that are likely takeover targets,
while assuming short positions in the would-be acquiring companies. Risk
arb players can employ an event-driven investment strategy or merger arbitrage
investment strategy, seeking situations such as hostile takeovers, mergers
and leveraged buyouts. Such funds typically experience moderate amounts
The theoretical return on a risk-free investment, usually
a U.S. security. | <urn:uuid:bd084ec9-4eae-4c21-a63b-46e1a71107b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hedgeco.net/hedgeducation/hedge-fund-glossary/redemption-fee.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934647 | 410 | 1.875 | 2 |
1, 2, 3...ENOUGH FOR ME!
George Gamow begins the first chapter of his delightful book "One, two three...infinity" with an apocryphal story about two Hungarian aristocrats who play a simple game. In this game, one of them merely has to say a number, and then the other one has to say out a number larger than the first number. Then the first aristocrat has to say out an even bigger number and so on. This is how the conversation proceeds:
Aristrocrat 1 (after thinking for twenty minutes): OK! 3
Aristocrat 2 (after thinking for an hour): Sorry! I give up.
No doubt this gentle slander was Gamow the prankster making fun of Hungarian scientists, many of who were among the most brilliant of the century. But further on in this fascinating chapter on the 'Mathematics of Infinity', Gamow talks about a real tribe of people in the deepest jungles of Africa called the 'Hottentots'. Apparently these people speak one of the most phonetically constrained languages on earth. The consequence-they really cannot count beyond three. So that if the Hottentot has to say how many hogs he killed for dinner, or how many enemies he slew in battle, and if the number exceeds three, he will simply say 'many'. With such a limited power of expression, how does a Hottentot father know, for example, how to share his goats equally among his two sons? In doing this, the Hottentots display what is one of the simplest but most ingenious methods of counting ever, and one which has deep reperscussions even in the most abstract and bizzare reaches of mathematics: Comparison. The father will simply line up the first goat for the first brother with the first goat for the second brother, the second goat for the first brother with the second goat for the second brother, and so on. If in the end, no goats are left over, that means that the goats have been equally distributed. This is how the Hottentots have got over their debilitating difficulty of counting beyond three. This method of establishing a one to one correspondence between things for counting them is so simple, that one would think it must have been discovered by all the arithmetically challenged people in the world.
Apparently not. In some recent amazing research published by linguist Peter Gordon from Columbia University, a tribe of people has been discovered in the jungles of the Amazon, which simply cannot count beyond three, no matter what. The reason, Gordon claims is that these people simply don't have NAMES for numbers beyond three. This conclusion roils up a long debate which connects the fields of Linguistics, Philosophy, Cognition and Mathematics: the relation between language and the real world. To do this, Gordon travelled into the Amazon jungle to visit the Piraha tribe, a remarkable group of only 200 people or so, who are some of the last artefacts of the simple life on earth. To test their counting skills, Gordon conducted the simplest tests. For example, he placed a row of ten batteries on the table and asked the Piraha to duplicate the row. Negative. Next, he drew successively, rows of one, two, three and ten lines on a sheet of paper and asked them to duplicate them. Negative. Lastly, he placed candy in a box which had pictures of a certain number of butterflies on them. He then shuffled the box with others and asked the Pirahas to pick the one which had the candy in it. In this case, even with the lucrative reward inside the box, the Pirahas could not pick the right one if the butterfly number exceeded three.
For me, this was an astounding finding, precisely because I used to think that anyone who would have a problem counting beyond three would at least not have a problem when it came to DUPLICATING objects greater than three in number, by applying the simple process of comparison demonstrated above by our friends the Hottentots. I still have to read the original article because it's not gotten published in detail yet. One interesting question springs to my mind. Can the Piraha at least distinguish between, say, twenty matches and thiry matches? If that is the case, then it would seem that our mind has a remarkable ability for 'counting without counting'. The real question is, what exactly happens in out brain when we count? Is counting just a conditioned reflex incorporated by parents and teachers in us as children, so that "one" is instantly identified with the abstract entity "1" in mathematics and so on? Or is counting an innate act wired in our brain at birth? Whatever the case is, one would expect that simple duplication does not need counting: you merely need to assure for example, that you place a battery in front of every battery in the initial row, no matter how many there are. In fact, if someone does this and correctly duplicates the row of batteries, I would NOT say that he is 'counting' in the literal sense of the term. From this point of view, I would deem Gordon's experiments as being inconclusive to whether the tribe was 'counting' or not. But ironically, it seems that the tables have been completely turned on us, because the tribe could not even do duplication. The only conlusions that eminent researchers have drawn from this fact is that languaage must be irrevocably linked with math. However, I fail to see again how a 'duplication' experiment can say the final word about 'counting'.
Why were the Pirahas unable to duplicate the row of batteries? I don't know, although I would agree that the observation is very fascinating.
Ludwig Wittgenstein once said that all our knowledge about the world is made possible through language, and that without language, even thought and logic do not exist. At face value, this seems to be a valid conclusion. What happens when I try to solve a logical puzzle? I say to myself, either silently or loudly, "Ok, this is the case...hence....therefore" and so on, until I reach the solution to the puzzle through more or less articulated expressions. But a more introspective analysis may make us think that the logic inherent in the world and in nature would be independent of language. However, any step on our part towards resolving this matter is doomed, because we can only use language to talk about language! This is a long standing and probably the most famous and intractable puzzle in logic, mathematics and philosophy. How do we talk about the nature of logic itself, but not using logic? How do we dissect the most abstract intimacies of language, without using language at all? Wittgenstein was very much aware of this self engulfing problem, like the serpent who perpetually continues to swallow his own tail, even as the tail moves away from him all the time. That is why the last paragraph of his famous work "Tractatus Logico Philosophicus" contains a most profound and provocative phrase; "Whereof we cannot talk, thereof we must remain silent". Wiggenstein would surely have loved to know about this discovery.
The problems of language and counting are as old as humanity itself. Gordon has made a path breaking discovery and one that would surely shed light on fundamental issues in a variety of fields. However, I am skeptical about his concusions drawn from the 'Duplication' experiments, and amazed by the results themselves. In fact, such events are quite profound, so that I would need to think more about this discovery and not draw any rash judgements from it. But Gordon also provides a marvelous example of that central principle common to all acts of discovery and progress; experiment and observation, something which can relegate even the most beautiful theory to non-existence, and elevate even the most mundane sounding theory to eternal glory. Science and Society, both benefit from this almost final judge of contention. As to Wittgenstein's proclamation, maybe the following can give a possible answer:
"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one should confirm by observation"! | <urn:uuid:87c86f37-4a33-49f1-aa00-bd1905c070ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ashujo.blogspot.com/2004_08_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968356 | 1,667 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Four Hartnell College students recently studied the arts and culture of Ghana, but it wasn't in a traditional classroom. They viewed the West African nation "up close and personal" by spending 10 days there. The students were part of Hartnell's Boronda International Study Program.
"It was a mind-opening, enriching experience for the students and everyone on the trip," said Carl Christensen, Hartnell music faculty member who was the program's instructor.
The students, all from Salinas, were Ryan Alvarez, Sarah Jackson Bannwart, Angie Martinez and Paul Sallabedra. Accompanying them and Christensen was Bill Fellner, animal health technology instructor who was the trip's coordinator.
In Accra, Ghana's capital, and the surrounding area, the students studied the country's traditional art forms, including textiles and drumming. They also visited museums and the University of Ghana's School of Performing Arts, according to Christensen.
Hartnell's Boronda International Study Program was established by Lester Boronda, a Monterey County artist who wanted to honor the memory of his parents, Sylvano and Maria Boronda. In his will, Lester stated that the recipients of international study scholarships must be "students of unusual promise in the arts," and should study in international centers around the world.
Since 1985, the Boronda International Study Program has sent students to many different countries around the world, including Japan, Taiwan, Hungary, China, England, Spain, Mexico and Guatemala.
The trip to Ghana was educational and exciting for students on several different fronts.
Ryan Alvarez, who is transferring this fall from Hartnell to UCLA's prestigious School of Film and Television and wants to pursue a career in the movie industry, was able to view Ghana's locally produced films.
Another student, Angie Martinez, a flutist and painter, was "amazed" how the people of Ghana help out each other. "Rich and poor families live in the same neighborhoods. There's a real sense of community," she said.
Paul Sallabedra, a singer who received his associate of arts degree in music from Hartnell in May, enjoyed the cultural aspects of the trip, but will never forget walking above a rain forest on bridge made of rope.
For Sarah Jackson Bannwart, the Ghana experience was "eye opening." A singer who is studying music at Hartnell, Bannwart was impressed with the important role that music plays in Ghana. "One day," she said, "we heard fishermen singing as they pulled in their nets. Music is everywhere." She was so taken by the trip she wants to return to the University of Ghana someday to study the performing arts.
Christensen said before the students made the trip to Ghana they enrolled in a semester-long class in which they studied the country's art, culture and history. | <urn:uuid:73e80e61-9ee4-416f-b8fc-fdf689263007> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hartnell.edu/news/press_releases/07_03_2002.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979046 | 585 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Edward Weston (1886-1958) helped define twentieth-century American photography. Weston wed machine-age aesthetics with vernacular subjects, pursuing Modernism as a way of seeing. He produced works of art using subject matter as wide-ranging as sea shells, green peppers, sand dunes, and nudes, and he set a standard for elegant composition and print technique for generations of photographers. The more-than-fifty works included here were made in Claremont, Glendale, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and other locations in California and the U.S.
Includes commentaries on all of the featured works, an introduction, a chronology, and a transcription of a colloquium on the photographer's life and work.
Brett Abbott is associate curator in the Getty Museum's Department of Photographs.
Series: In Focus
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In this article we explore the life of Kitty Berger, a zitherist from Austria and early recording artist with Victor and Edison records. After receiving notoriety in Europe for her musical abilities, she traveled to England and America with her zither. A recognized talent on the instrument of her homeland, she was invited to perform for heads of state in the White House and Windsor Castle.
On February 8, 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt and a group of distinguished guests settled in for a relaxing evening of entertainment. Some guests, such as Baron von Sternburg, the German Ambassador, and his wife, were treated to familiar sounds. For others, the experience would be altogether new.
This evening's entertainment at the White House was provided by the renowned zitherist, Kitty Berger. Her program of twelve selections likely included works from her recorded repertoire. Her zither music, available on Victor and Edison records, included songs such as "Die Lorelei," "The Ring and the Rose" and "Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms." She is also known to have entertained audiences with selections by Felix Mendelssohn and Joseph Haydn on her zither.
President Roosevelt was reported to have been thoroughly impressed with the program of zither music and was especially pleased to learn that the zither, played upon so beautifully by Kitty Berger, was made here in the United States. The 43-stringed harp-zither model was made at the factory of Missouri's famed zither maker, Franz Schwarzer. She ordered the instrument while visiting the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Once completed, the Schwarzer harp-zither crossed the Atlantic and was received by her in London, England.
Austrian-born, Kitty Berger was recognized at an early age for her musical ability. As a youth, she travelled to England to perform and give zither lessons. In England, Kitty Berger's music elevated her to the highest social circles. She was friends with Adelina Patti, the celebrated opera singer. In Windsor Castle, Queen Victoria and members of the royal family were also charmed by the zither. Impressed, Queen Victoria presented her with a solitaire diamond. For her White House recital she wore this diamond, and a bracelet given to her by her friend Adelina Patti.
A long time resident of New York City, Kitty Berger travelled frequently and crossed the Atlantic on multiple occasions. In 1887 she returned from England where she had been staying at Craig Y Nos Castle in Wales, the home of Adelina Patti. In New York, she was frequently engaged to perform in private homes, restaurants and concert halls. In her spare time, she also offered zither lessons and would call on students in their homes to give lessons.
An article written in 1899 paints a picture of her demeanor. It reads, "In person Mme. Kitty Berger is tall, slender and very graceful, though slow of movement. Her manner is gentle, sweet and charming, though having a shadow of deep sadness over it. A great sorrow has left its indelible impress upon her face, but that very sorrow brings her art more into sympathy with those who hear her incomparable playing." This perceived sorrow may have been the result of a personal tragedy experienced just a few years earlier. In 1896, while living in New York, her husband, Dr. Paul Pancritius, passed away unexpectedly, while in his mid-thirties. Originally from Königsberg, Prussia, Dr. Pancritius had been suffering from chronic pain due to an existing heart condition. As a doctor with access to morphine, he administered a fatal dosage of the drug in an attempt to self-medicate.
New York Daily Tribune,
Sept. 25, 1909
Despite her loss, she carried on with her music and this was likely a source of comfort through the troubling period. She understood the healing power of music and in this manner she too was a physician of sorts. In Manhattan, she frequented hospitals hoping to ease the pain and lift the spirits of patients with her zither music. She described her charity work as demanding but rewarding. At the end of a day's performance, she sometimes likened the weight of her zither to the burden of St. Christopher. However, as she brought comfort to those in need, she felt her load lighten.
In the coming years, with America's entry into World War I, the social atmosphere changed decidedly. All things German and many individuals of German ancestry came under increased scrutiny. As a matter of course, individuals were routinely reported by neighbors or other associations. The FBI was very active in following up on these reports, many of which have been declassified and released into the public domain. Kitty Berger, now in her late forties, was not beyond suspicion and was also investigated by the FBI for alleged German activities. A line from her file reads, "Agent was informed by Police Officer Eduard O'Neill that this woman should be pur [sic] under investigation as he was certain she was very much pro-German." For Kitty Berger, then living as a boarder in a home, the resulting inquiry revealed nothing of significance. It was reported that she "lived quietly and decently" but was having trouble making ends meet, had few callers and relied on others to receive her mail. Certainly this was in stark contrast to happier and more prosperous times.
In her final years, she continued to be involved with her charity work in New York, for which she was known as the "Hospital Angel." Along with performing in hospitals, she also held annual recitals to help support her charitable endeavors. Kitty Berger passed away of heart disease on April 22, 1925, at New York's Presbyterian Hospital. She was 54 years old. A gifted and selfless artist, she willingly shared her music with anyone who cared to listen. She was quoted as saying, "My harp-zither and my music belong to the public. For me, they should care nothing." As modest as she was, her unique contribution to America's musical heritage is certainly acknowledged.
Music's healing power. Kitty Berger performing in a New York Hospital, 1911.
"President Entertains Friends At Recital of Zither Music by Mme. Berger in Blue Room", The Washington Times, February 9, 1907
Olive Harper, "Queen of the Zither - Mme. Berger has pleased royalty with her music", The Evening Bulletin, January 3, 1899
"A Doctor Dies From Morphine", New York Herald-Tribune, February 6, 1896
Louise E. Dew, "The Hospital Angel", The World To-Day, February, 1911
Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Madame Kitty Berger. Alleged German Activities", September 6, 1918
Do you have a story of historical interest pertaining to the zither that you would like to share? If so, contact us. | <urn:uuid:34201f45-4e2d-4c4d-a1f9-5e8def23dfef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zither.us/?q=zitherist.kitty.berger | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981766 | 1,423 | 2.46875 | 2 |
In the rush of the past few days, I totally forgot to post about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), a piece of American legislation that could have substantial impacts on the sale of used children's books.
Under CPSIA requirements, children's products can't be sold if they contain over a certain amount of lead or particular phthalates, and many such products will have to undergo mandatory testing and certification. Lead poisoning and phthalate exposure can have a wide array of very negative health effects, particularly on children.
There's been tremendous worry and pushback from publishers, libraries, sellers of used children's books, toys, and clothing, and parents worried about whether something as simple as hand-me-down clothing will remain unambiguously legal. On January 8, The Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a clarification, explaining that the rigorous testing and certification requirements are meant to apply only to new children's products, but that used items must still conform to guidelines. This doesn't seem to offer any ground for makers of new small-scale or handmade goods, which are still subject to the same potentially expensive certification requirements.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has suggested that books published after 1985 are relatively safe, but the threat of legal liability means that sellers of used children's books from before 1985 may choose to pull them out of the market or destroy them, rather than do costly testing of each individual book. For example, read these stories from booksellers at Overlawyered. | <urn:uuid:c527d613-85bd-4ac7-a1d6-ec994830cec0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journal.bookfinder.com/2009/02/cpsia-regulations-worry-used-childrens-booksellers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964158 | 302 | 2.171875 | 2 |
(CNN) -- The White House may be the official residence of the U.S. president, but it's only a temporary address. The former homes and libraries of presidents offer an inside look into the lives of the select few who served as the nation's leader.
Nearly 80 million visitors have toured Mount Vernon, George Washington's home in Virginia.
From simple log cabins to expansive estates, hundreds of presidential homes and historical sites are open to the public. Visitors can read the love letters between Harry Truman and his wife, Bess, examine hand-drawn maps by Herbert Hoover or eye the tintype photograph of young wife Lucy that Rutherford B. Hayes carried with him daily on Civil War battlefields and later in the White House.
As we witness a new leader take office and celebrate past commanders-in-chief on President's Day this month, CNN asked William Clotworthy, author of "Homes and Libraries of the Presidents," to recommend five places for travelers to see a very human side of history's presidents.
There's more than split rails at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in Hodgenville, Kentucky. The site, run by the National Park Service, offers exhibits and walking tours so the visitor can experience a little of the frontier life that shaped the nation's 16th president.
The centerpiece is the large marble and granite Lincoln Memorial Building, which houses a small and humble log cabin. The cabin is not actually Lincoln's birth cabin -- that has been lost to history -- but it does try to replicate as closely as possible the tiny and primitive surroundings that sheltered the future commander in chief.
"There's something about the Lincoln log cabin," Clotworthy said. "I think it's an inspiration that a man born in a log cabin ... grew up to become president of the United States. I know it's corny, but that's what I find inspiring." iReport.com: See Lincoln's childhood home after an ice storm
This February 12, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, events are planned around the park and the Hodgenville area, including a ceremony presenting new Lincoln pennies for circulation and the dedication of a second replica log cabin.
Ronald Reagan's final resting place can also be an excellent starting point for those curious about his life. The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, not only houses all Reagan's official presidential papers and records, but also includes such personal objects as his college letter sweater, movie memorabilia from his film career and even a glass jelly bean jar.
From his presidential life, highlights include a section of the Berlin Wall presented by the people of Germany and a walk inside Air Force One -- one of Clotworthy's favorite experiences.
"They have built a glass-enclosed pavilion" for the Boeing 707 used by Reagan, he said "and you stand there and you get the impression you're flying. It's fabulous." Visitors are able to peek inside the president and first lady's cabins, the galleys and cockpit. On the lower level, an entire pub from Ireland that Reagan visited was shipped over in 2004 and is now a snack shop.
Home to George Washington for most of his adult life, Mount Vernon in Virginia has been open to a curious public since 1860. Nearly 80 million visitors have toured the first president's home since then, making it the most popular historic home in the United States. On Presidents' Day, admission is free.
Today, visitors can tour the meticulously restored mansion, tour the four gardens, hike the nature trail or explore personal artifacts such as the first president's shoes or his favorite swivel chair in a vast state-of-the-art museum on the grounds.
Also in the museum are new life-size models of Washington, so visitors can get a glimpse of what the future Founding Father was like as a teenager.
"There are no real pictures or ideas of what Washington looked like before he was 45 years old, so [anthropologists] made a study of existing pictures, his teeth, his hair and they've now built these incredible figures of Washington as a younger man," Clotworthy said.
Inspired by the success of the women's organization that opened Mount Vernon to the public, a similar group in Nashville, Tennessee, saved Andrew Jackson's home from ruin in 1889.
Today, Hermitage visitors can tour the mansion, stroll the formal gardens, examine slave cabins and see the original log cabin where the Jacksons lived for a time. A robust visitor's center tells the life story of Jackson, or "Old Hickory," from hell-raising youth to feisty frontier battler of the British to powerful president.
Besides tours and exhibits, summer visitors can also watch excavations as Hermitage archaeologists uncover some of the estimated 100 buildings on the grounds. A standout of the Hermitage is its many educational programs for the public, including a "hands-on-history" class for kids.
When it comes to touring presidential lives, the Franklin D. Roosevelt complex of sites in Hyde Park, New York, offers travelers one-stop shopping -- the lifelong home of a president, a museum and official presidential library all within walking distance of each other.
Roosevelt was born and spent most of his life at Springwood Mansion, which offers visitors a look at the personal side of the only four-term president, including wheelchair ramps installed after Roosevelt contracted polio in 1921.
On the same grounds is the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the first presidential library and one Roosevelt designed himself. Among the museum highlights are a 1936 roadster fitted with hand controls so the president could drive himself, his White House desk as he left it (including a pack of Camel cigarettes and Roget's thesaurus) and even objects from his childhood (the future author of the New Deal had quite the snazzy rocking horse).
Also part of the complex are a cottage designed by FDR as a retreat in 1939, expansive gardens and grounds by the Hudson River, and a visitor center that plays an orientation film, "A Rendezvous with History" -- which is what travelers can plan on when visiting the nation's presidential sites.
|Most Viewed||Most Emailed||Top Searches| | <urn:uuid:423e108b-38b1-45d2-bab1-f7297c232bc3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/getaways/02/10/presidential.sites/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959597 | 1,280 | 2.453125 | 2 |
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- All Balkan Countries
Pristina says new regime will improve internal security and ease the path leading to eventual EU membership.
Kosovo has established a visa regime for citizens of 87 countries, starting from July, which it says will have a positive impact on internal security and on the path toward EU accession. The system was announced in May in 2012.
Authorities have yet to release the list of the 87 countries affected, but, according to the daily Koha Ditore, it includes Russia, China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya and Syria.
Visas will not be required of any neighbouring countries, or of nationals of the five European Union countries that have not recognized Kosovo's independence, namely, Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia.
“Through the visa system, potential dangerous elements can be identified and stopped,” Artan Behrami, a spokesperson for the Kosovo Foreign Ministry, told SETimes.
“This regime is expected to have a positive impact in reducing the possibilities that… Kosovo be used as a transit country for trafficking of human beings and as a transit country for illegal immigration towards the EU countries,” Behrami added.
Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry has noted that the EU expects candidate countries to demonstrate effective control of their borders, transit of foreigners and identification and neutralisation of the potential security threats.
Kosovo is the only country in the region whose nationals still need visas to enter the EU’s passport-free Schengen area. Removal of the current visa requirements is seen by the government as a priority for the coming year.
The Hague Tribunal has been successful in bringing wartime commanders to justice but hasn’t met expectations on reconciliation, chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz told BIRN. | <urn:uuid:cf64a694-e7c9-4876-84f5-7b7e607f866b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-slaps-visas-on-87-countries | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92562 | 377 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Antalya Province— the shining gem of the Turquoise Riviera with some of the clearest waters and most beautiful coast along the Mediterranean.
Cilician Plains (Çukurova, Adana and Osmaniye Provinces)— the largest lowland of the country with some rocky hills topped by Crusader citadels.
Hatay Province— the southeastern part of the region which extends towards Syria. Annexed to Turkey in 1939, almost two decades after the Republic was found, this province still maintains its Mideast-influenced culture and great cuisine.
Lakes District (Göller Yöresi, Isparta and Burdur Provinces)— with many lakes little and big, this inland region is substantially different from coastal Mediterranean
Mersin Province— with hundreds of kilometers of coastline lying in front of pine covered mountains dotted with ancient citadels, this province is a less-traveled alternative rich in history to Antalya Province.
Western Lycia (southern half of Muğla Province)— rugged and wooded, with many coves heavily indendating towards the land, this is the "blue voyage" country with Lycian ruins here and there.
Antalya— the largest city in southern Turkey and the unquestioned capital of the Turkish Riviera.
Adana— one of the biggest cities in the country. A riverside city with some industry.
Alanya— town west of Antalya with some history to see and beaches to swim.
Antakya (also known as Antioch)— Great food and history near the Syrian border.
Fethiye— nestled on the tip of a gulf perfect for yachting, this town and its vicinity offers sports like paragliding or hiking (the Lycian Way).
Kaş— an unspoiled resort town with traditional architecture in the southwest of the region.
Marmaris— a nice town, albeit touristy, and the gateway for "Blue Voyage".
Mersin— a large city with some huge palm trees on the coastal promenade.
The highway D400, which closely follows the shoreline of Turkish Mediterranean from one end to another, is the main road of the region. While most of it is very wide (at least 2 lanes per direction) and in a very good condition, some sections are very winding and narrow such as the section between Alanya and Silifke. There are other roads, such as D650, which connects more inland regions (Lakes District) with the D400, thus the coastline.
A great way to reduce your bottled water costs in this hot region is to use free cold water dispensers, locally called sebil (pronounced say-beel), which can usually be found on the sides of the streets and mosque courtyards in less-touristed towns and neighbourhoods in the region. They look like small, white refrigators and usually have two faucets: red one delivers warm (or mildly hot depending on the weather) water, while the blue one offers comfortably cold water. Though the water coming out of the faucets is not from a commercially-bottled jar, and likely from the city water network, it's harmless and causes no stomach upsets. A way to reduce the risk may be allowing yourself a week after arrival in the region to get accustomed to local microflora and -fauna that may be present in the water and then taking full advantage of sebils.
Aegean Region to the north/northwest has a lot in common with Mediterranean Turkey (especially the climate, landscape, and flora), but yet has unique aspects that make it a separate region. | <urn:uuid:c4687a07-96dd-4e83-93e6-ee13321586f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wikitravel.org/wiki/en/index.php?title=Mediterranean_Turkey&diff=1330971&oldid=1325836 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948903 | 769 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The shade of a single rose so eloquently captures all the feelings of a special moment, reflects all the memories of everything that has happened before this time, and expresses the hopes of many moments yet to come.
The first single rose a young woman receives might be given while she is still a girl. Perhaps it is a delicate shade of peach, from someone who knows every ounce of effort that has gone into a special performance, or accomplishment. It's an appreciation of everything the girl is right now, and all she hopes to be.
Later, a single rose in a deep shade of orange says, "I am so proud," and expresses admiration of everything she has become. She has graduated from girlhood and she is ready to take on the world.Now that she is a woman, her grace and beauty catch someone else's eye. A pink rose, held in a hand made bold by sweet love, tells her of unspoken feelings. After a time, the same hand brings a newly bloomed red rose to announce, "I love you." A single white rose might follow, proclaiming a love that is stronger than death.
The shades of a rose, like a moment in her life, can contain a myriad of meanings. A single yellow rose might speak of contentment and happiness. Placed on a bedside table, it could celebrate the unbridled joy of a new birth or anniversary of another year together. It could also make the promise of a new beginning, or to make up for things that have gone wrong.Soon it becomes the woman's turn to give a single rose. She carefully selects one in a delicate shade of peach. It's been chosen for another girl, not yet a woman, who is full of promise and life, and given with the hope that she too will experience life in all its beautiful shades.
Joyce Lucas, Founder | <urn:uuid:1febf5d1-4061-48c0-ae91-7ca308eee687> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beloved-creations.blogspot.com/2009/02/shades-of-rose.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967008 | 379 | 2.65625 | 3 |
KKK in North Dakota part 2
Friday, August 31, 2012
If you tuned in yesterday, you learned that the Ku Klux Klan had a significant presence in our state. F. Halsey Ambrose, a Presbyterian minister, mobilized his masses to discriminate, especially against Catholics and members of the Nonpartisan League.
People in the North Dakota group were not usually violent, but since they weren’t a group on the fringe of society, it meant they could boast other kinds of power. In 1924, their membership and strength were growing, and the Klan was active in civic politics. They campaigned for candidates who were in the KKK or sympathetic towards it. In the 1924 Grand Forks city election, a Klan candidate won a seat on the five-person city commission, and another Klan member defeated the incumbent city justice who was a Roman Catholic.
Three weeks later there was a school board election between two Klan businessmen and two women. This election was so divisive that it brought out hundreds of people who rallied for and against both sides. The Reverend Ambrose called the Catholic women candidates the “scum of the Earth” and “unworthy of the name of woman.” The Grand Forks Herald endorsed the Catholic women, but the Klansmen won the election. They used their victory to reinstitute bible-reading in schools.
Later, the Klan purged City Hall of many Catholic employees who had worked there for years. After this, many members felt that they had accomplished their goals in North Dakota. Others were disillusioned with the hateful ideas, and support for the Klan died down.
But the ideas that the Reverend Ambrose spread did not die easily. A source within the Klan said the Klan leaders included prominent members of the business community, including three bankers, three insurance men, seven store owners, two hotel proprietors, three lawyers, one doctor, one architect, and one other clergyman in addition to Ambrose.
The national KKK still exists today. It even has a website. The message has changed a little to sound more appealing in our modern times, claiming to bring a message of … quote … “love, not hate, to the white modern family.”
Dakota Datebook written by Leewana Thomas
Ku Klux Klan in North Dakota records (http://webapp.und.edu/dept/library/Collections/og598.html)
North Dakota Studies, The Ku Klux Klan: and Investigative Report (http://www.ndstudies.org/articles/the_ku_klux_klan_in_north_dakota_investigative_report) | <urn:uuid:84754517-1606-419b-929e-b8a687656a76> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prairiepublic.org/radio/dakota-datebook?post=44352 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976559 | 540 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Health insurance is essentially the distribution of risk. A large number of people pay into a pool, managed by the health insurance company. The company operates on the assumption that only a few of its customers will get sick enough to require more money out of the pool than what they pay in.
The problem is that due to federal and state regulations, as well as tradition and custom, high-risk customers tend to pay the same or similar premiums as low-risk customers. So people who make good decisions about what they eat, how often they exercise, or what habits they take up end up subsidizing people who make less healthy decisions. It amounts to an incentive for unhealthy behavior.
This is only true of health insurance. Auto and life insurance companies regularly vary premiums with risk. If you have a poor driving record, drive a sports car, or live in a high-theft area, you’re going to pay more for your car insurance than most.
There’s no reason why health insurance shouldn’t operate the same way. This is particularly true with state-issued health plans, where not only do you have the problem of subsidizing and fostering poor decisions, but the burden of those poor decisions then falls on taxpayers.
The question becomes, who should pay the health care costs of a state worker who chooses to smoke, then gets sick as the result of that decision: the person who chooses to smoke, or Georgia taxpayers? I have a hunch what most Georgia taxpayers would prefer.
Some may worry that we’re on a “slippery slope,” here — ” that health insurance companies may soon factor in traits and habits such as obesity, regularity of exercise, or alcohol consumption, too.
But why shouldn’t they? Certainly we should be free to make our own decisions about what habits and vices we choose to indulge. But we should also be prepared to accept the consequences of those decisions. Eat, smoke and drink what you want, but don’t expect people who made better choices — or taxpayers — to bail you out.
It has also been suggested it would be better to reward people who make good decisions instead of punishing people who make bad ones. That’s a nice thought, but isn’t the result the same? Whether you punish smokers with higher premiums or reward nonsmokers with discounts, nonsmokers still end up paying less for health insurance than smokers. As they probably should. | <urn:uuid:19529642-7d34-4944-8597-3c575ac356b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/health-riskers-ought-pay | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964324 | 506 | 2.421875 | 2 |
The National Park Service wanted to ban the use of power shovels in building Going-to-the-Sun Road. Because most contractors refused even to bid on the job if they couldn't use their power equipment, and because the cost of a road built exclusively by hand labor was too great, the power equipment was allowed.
Questions for Photo 4
1. This photo shows two trucks and a gas shovel. It was difficult to get equipment like this up to these elevations without roads. Some of it was fitted with tractor treads, while some was disassembled and hauled in by horse-drawn sleds or pontoon barges. Why do you think contractors refused to work without this equipment even when it was so difficult to get it up to the construction site?
2. This photo appears to show the end of the completed part of the road. Where do you think the road will go next? What sort of work needs to be done?
3. After examining photos 1-4, what generalizations can you make about working and living conditions for workers building Going-to-the-Sun Road?
4. When Going-to-the-Sun Road was dedicated, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes wrote, "It is a magnificent job, perfectly accomplished. Workmen who risked their lives daily on the face of the steep cliffs that had to be conquered to make this modern trail, deserve special honor for their share in the great undertaking."¹ If you had been a worker on the project, would you have felt honored by the Secretary's statement?
¹ "Report of the Dedication of the Going-to-the-Sun Highway, July 15, 1933, Glacier National Park Montana." Typescript, Park Files, Glacier National Park.
* The photo on this screen has a resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi), and therefore will print poorly. You can obtain a larger version of Photo 4, but be aware that the file will take as much as 29 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem. | <urn:uuid:b6b78e21-ad2c-4a26-8996-4fc4f0a513f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/95sunroad/95visual4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977332 | 418 | 2.953125 | 3 |
UN peacekeeping chief: Syria conflict is now civil war
Published Wednesday 13/06/2012 00:00
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- The 15-month-old conflict in Syria has grown into a full-scale civil war in which the government is attempting to recapture large swathes of urban territory it has lost to the opposition, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday.
"Yes, I think we can say that," U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said in an interview with Reuters and one other reporter when asked if the Syrian crisis could now be characterized as a civil war.
"Clearly what is happening is that the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory in several cities to the opposition and wants to retake control of these areas," he said. | <urn:uuid:52dc7c84-7a91-421a-80eb-3b1a2406dfa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=494870 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967227 | 173 | 1.710938 | 2 |
YORK, 17 October--Efforts to reduce poverty have improved living
conditions for millions of people around the world, but the results
are so uneven and gains in some parts of the world have been offset
by deteriorating conditions in others, according to the Secretary-General's
report on the implementation of the first United Nations decade for
the eradication of poverty, which runs through 2006.
Over half the world's six billion people live lives of substantial
deprivation, living on incomes that amount to $2 dollars a day or
less. There have been improvements, as more people are living longer
lives, in developing as well as developed countries, more people are
attending school than ever before, and more people have access to
health care. Still, far more must be done.
Globalization has been heralded as a major force that could be harnessed
to push the poverty eradication agenda. Globalization has helped make
the world increasingly interdependent, and has presented many new
opportunities, yet only those countries--generally those with a highly
educated and skilled labor force--have been able to benefit from the
global economy. Most developing countries, and the least developing
countries in particular, continue to be left largely untouched by
the globalization process.
In the last five years:
percentage of people living in extreme poverty--on less that $1
a day--has declined substantially.
Asian financial crisis has led to an increase in the numbers of
people living in poverty.
greatest decline in the number of people living in poverty took
place in China.
Sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of people living in poverty went
down, yet more people are now living in poverty.
More people are living in poverty in Latin America. In countries
with economies in transition, poverty rates and numbers have gone
up sharply, with far more people living in poverty than before 1989.
Some poverty indicators:
More than 110 million primary-school age children in developing
countries do not attend school, and for many who do, the quality
of the education is in question.
There has been progress in all regions on infant mortality, yet
poor people still suffer from far higher infant-mortality rates.
Some countries have made progress: the poorest 20 per cent in Brazil
have a lower infant mortality rate than the richest 20 per cent
in Ghana or Pakistan.
People in developing countries are living longer: the average life
expectancy went from 55 years in 1970 to 65 years in 1997. The average
for the industrialized countries in 1997 was 78 years.
HIV/AIDS is shortening life spans, mostly in developing countries.
In 33 developing countries, life expectancy has declined due to
Natural disasters and civil conflicts have severely limited opportunities
for improvement in many countries.
Globalization has not helped everyone
are growing inequalities between and within countries:
The fifth of the world's people living in the highest income countries
accounts for 86 per cent of the world's GDP, 82 per cent of the
world's export markets, 69 per cent of foreign direct investment,
and 74 per cent of the world's telephone lines.
In contrast, the poorest fifth of the world's population contributes
to less than 1.5 per cent of the GDP, export markets, foreign direct
investment, or phone lines.
Foreign direct investment, which exceeded $644 billion in 1998,
has not gone to the poorest countries. The 48 least developed countries
attracted less than $3 billion in 1998, or 0.4 per cent of the total.
The United States received about a third.
Foreign direct investment was concentrated in about 20 middle income
countries in South East Asia and Latin America, as well as to some
Employment growth in developing countries has been slight, and the
quality of employment generated by globalization has been questioned.
Labor standards have eroded due to increased competition for export
markets and foreign investment.
targets for progress
poverty and promoting development is a prime United Nations objectives--on
an equal basis with its mission to promote peace. The UN works with
its 189 Member States to set policies and programmes that have a direct
impact on poverty reduction. In addition, the UN has sought out other
partners, such as non-governmental organizations, private businesses
and corporations, the international financial institutions, religious
organizations, and members of national parliaments to help bring about
a concerted effort to help people improve their living conditions.
The United Nations convened the World Summit on Social Development
in 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark, where representatives of 186 countries--including
117 world leaders--agreed to make poverty reduction efforts a governmental
priority. The goals and objectives of the Social Summit were recently
reaffirmed at a special session of the General Assembly, held in Geneva
in June, where countries adopted even further-reaching proposals to
assist poverty-fighting efforts.
At the Millennium Summit, 150 world leaders agreed to a number of
steps to help people escape the misery of poverty. These include:
By 2015, halving the proportion of people living on less than a
dollar a day.
By 2015, halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
By 2015, halving the proportion of people who are unable to obtain
safe drinking water.
By 2015, providing primary education to all girls and boys, on an
By 2015, have halted--or even reversed--the spread of HIV/AIDS and
the scourge of malaria.
By 2015, reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters and child
mortality by two thirds.
By 2020, improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
What should be done?
poverty is a complicated process, requiring the cooperation of many
actors--in communities, towns, national governments and in international
institutions. There is no quick fix for poverty. Globalization can
help, but it must benefit everyone. The following measures can help.
new trading opportunities for developing countries.
Reduce tariffs on goods from developing countries.
Establish a mechanism to stabilize commodity prices.
Establish more education and job training opportunities in developing
Improve various channels to promote greater transfer of technology
to developing countries.
Strengthen the international financial system to reduce the negative
impacts of financial turbulence and crises.
Speed up action on debt relief to ensure that the benefits can accrue
to people in developing countries as quickly as possible.
Develop the private sector within developing countries while at
the same time, encouraging corporate social responsibility | <urn:uuid:4e0e1268-ada6-4ffb-8e9f-b3087ff4ab51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/en/events/povertyday/2000/messages.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926046 | 1,375 | 3.25 | 3 |
See how the right education could help you find a career you love.
Fifty percent of American workers are unhappy with their current job, according to a 2010 survey conducted by the consulting firm, Mercer.
Do you fall into this half? If so, it might be time to make a career change.
While no career is a bed of roses every day, there are some careers known for satisfaction. In fact, in March 2011, career site CareerBliss.com recently released a survey about the happiest professions in the country.
If you're ready to make a change to improve your job satisfaction, keep reading to see some career change options - and how the right education could potentially help prepare you to pursue them.
Option #1: Administrative Assistant
Think you've got the organizational skills to keep top business executives on schedule? Consider studying to pursue opportunities in administrative support.
Administrative assistants, who do research, manage schedules, and organize meetings and events, were ranked fourth in CareerBliss' survey of happiest jobs, in great part due to job growth and the potential for advancement.
Education options: The Department of Labor, who notes that administrative assistants have an average annual salary of $45,860 as of May 2010, reports that a business degree could give candidates for these jobs an edge. An associate's degree in business could take two years; a bachelor's degree in business could be completed in four years.*
Option #2: Human Resources Manager
If you consider yourself a "people person", you might be well-suited to studying for a career in human resources.
With tasks ranging from handling the recruitment and retention of employees to managing their compensation and benefits, human resource managers have an average annual salary of $108,600, according to May 2010 statistics from the Department of Labor.
Education options: A master's degree in human resources, labor relations, or business administration is recommended for those seeking management positions in human resources, according to the Department of Labor.*
Option #3: Accountant
Do you have a knack for numbers and spreadsheets? If so, studying accounting might be the key to helping you prepare to pursue a new career that could excite you.
Businesses employ accountants to manage and keep records of payroll, financial transactions, and taxes. Also included in CareerBliss' happiest jobs list, accountants have an average annual salary of $68,960, according to May 2010 statistics from the Department of Labor. USA Today also noted in "Are You Proud of Your Job", that accountants tend to report feeling pride in their work.
Education options: To be competitive for jobs in accounting, you should hold a bachelor's degree in accounting, according to the Department of Labor. Getting certified as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) might also serve you well in the job market, as any accountant who deals with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must hold this certification.*
Option #4: Medical Assistant
Want to transition to a career in the health care field? Consider medical assisting.
Medical assistants perform a range of clinical and administrative duties that include basic tests, as well as preparing patients for procedures. CareerBliss lists this and other health care jobs as ninth in their survey of happiest jobs in America, in large part due to its rapid job growth.
The Department of Labor projects medical assistants to have a job growth of 34 percent from 2008 to 2018, and notes that this career has an average annual salary of $29,760 as of May 2010.
Education Options: Many medical assistants complete a medical assisting program, according to the Department of Labor. A medical assistant certificate, as one example, could take between one to two years to complete, depending on your course load.*
Option #5: Computer Support Specialist
Are you a tech-savvy person? You might enjoy studying to pursue as career as a computer support specialist.
Computer support specialists provide technical assistance, support, and advice on information technology, according to the Department of Labor, who also notes that this career has an average annual salary of $49,930 as of May 2010. U.S. News and World Report also includes computer support specialist in their list of best careers for 2011.
Education Options: According to the Department of Labor, a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, or information systems is a prerequisite for some jobs. However, some may require only a computer-related associate's degree or certificate.*
*All education information is from the U.S. Department of Labor. Completion times are never a guarantee and could depend on program, course load, a student's commitment, and other factors. | <urn:uuid:2b56f37c-58d4-4d14-a9e4-8c63f3901d41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://education.yahoo.net/articles/happy_career_options.htm?kid=1I4XO&svkid=1G1T5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966113 | 952 | 2.15625 | 2 |
If August 2008’s weather thus far had to be summed up in one word it would be WET! Last Thursday a low pressure system began moving into the region from Saskatchewan, Canada. Ahead of the system a cold front moved into northeastern Colorado and by Friday that low pressure had settled over Colorado.
Over a three day period through Sunday morning, this produced lots of rain and record cool temperatures. As it stands today in fact, August 2008 has climbed to # 3 on the all-time wettest August’s on record – and we still have 12 days left in the month.
Denver’s top 5 wettest Augusts
4.47 ” 1951
4.03″ 2008 (4.76″ recorded in Thornton)
While our August moisture has been great, it has not erased the deficit in precipitation overall for 2008. Up until this month, we had nine straight months with below average precipitation. Through the end of August, Denver historically averages 12.07 inches of precipitation. As of today, even with our record setting August, we only have recorded 7.31 inches in 2008. Certainly the recent storm highlights that we could easily catch up with one or two wet systems moving through but it does also serve as a reminder that we are still quite dry.
Record temperatures too! With the wet cold front came record setting cool temperatures too. Friday, August 15th, Denver reached 59 degrees which demolished the previous record low maximum temperature of 68 degrees set in 1880. Saturday, August 16th we reached 58 degrees which again broke the previous record low maximum for the date of 63 degrees set in 1890. ThorntonWeather.com recorded 58 and 57.2 on August 15th and 16th respectively. | <urn:uuid:80d81968-a5c2-4fbc-8f90-33b6a7d65cc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thorntonweather.com/blog/thornton-weather/crazy-august-weather-%E2%80%93-lots-of-moisture-but-overall-still-behind-the-curve/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951376 | 351 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Did you mayhaps mean conducive?
Sorry, no definitions found.
“Readers will note that they not only sell it in quantities most especially useful for parish churches, but also in smaller quantities for those who wish to burn incense at home -- which, incidentally, is a practice which can be very condusive to setting a climate of prayer, or to mark a feast day.”
“Hyperexclusive" refers to goods that are condusive to discriminatory pricing, and permit "Lindahl" pricing, which extracts all of the consumer surplus by charging each consumer at his own demand level.”
“The state regulations here are very bizarre and condusive to promote bad sportsmanship by making it extremely difficult for hunters.”
“But at other times, no such division of labor is possible, and the only occupations condusive to survival are (1) farmer and (2) fighter, and the only human organizations that can endure are farmers guarded by fighters.”
“It is easy than in the past as I have a fully equiped gym at work for when the conditions outside are not condusive to running.”
“Just because people have the right to vote, unfortunately, does not mean they will exercise this great privilege in a manner condusive to welfare of the their country's future.”
“If we really was going to "fix" healthcare it would of started with congress working on legislation that actually could pass. the best way to fix healthcare woulda been to create an atmosphere condusive for businesses to create good jobs and thus healthcare.”
“Ironically, the advances in measuring technology goes hand in hand with poorer placement as new highly accurate sensors are placed by necessity in locations that are more condusive to delivering power to them than accuracy.”
“That's partly because my very small studio has not be condusive to developing ideas.”
“For those who are on VRE, while you get a good hour to yourself, the seats are entirely non-condusive to sleeping … which with a young family was precisely what I did with my one-hour commute.”
Looking for tweets for condusive. | <urn:uuid:47894a39-1252-4df4-8668-3b05715e2131> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/condusive | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975562 | 456 | 1.953125 | 2 |
I once gave a talk to children at a Bible Camp in Panama.
Outside of the covered patio we used as a lecture hall, mango trees were getting heavy with fruit.
The mangoes were almost in season.
I had picked one bruised and green mango that had fallen on the ground. Turning it over in my hands, and dramatically raising it to my mouth, I asked the children if the green mango I held was ready to eat.
Their glee erupted as they tried to save me from a truly bitter experience. . . They quickly shouted NO!!!!
“Because they are greeeeeeeennnnn!” was the enthustic reply from these kids willing to state the obvious for the clueless foreigner.
“But what would it taste like?”
“Bitter!” was their one word reply.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Because they are greeeeeeeennnnn!” was the enthustic reply from these kids. Their chuckles and giggles led to a great bible lesson on growth and maturity.
Growth in Observable Stages
“All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” – Mark 4:38
We know that the Christian conversion is a process, a journey.
The seed of spiritual restlessness is planted. Under the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit, that seed grows.
As it grows, it goes through observable stages that the farmer can see. Jesus points out the obvious:
- Full Kernel.
Likewise, a seeker will start looking into Scripture, have conversations with friends, think deeply on these things. God uses conversations, reflection, sermons, circumstances and more to help that journey along.
Don’t harvest before it’s ready
If you have ever tended a garden to produce flowers or fruit, you know you need to wait for the plant or fruit to mature.
The children at the Bible Camp knew that green bitter and immature mangoes will transform to the sweet tropical fruit in a few more weeks. When the fruit is ready, they can enjoy it!
They have learned to recognize a ripe mango that is ready to be devoured. They won’t harvest before it is ready.
So also with the process of conversion.
So much of our evangelism training focuses on the conversion, we forget to allow for the process of maturity. We need to allow our seeking friends time
- to make their decision,
- find answers for their questions
- become willing to consider the claims of Christ
- find healing for wounds caused by Christians or other people that harm their journey.
Other times, we might encounter a stranger who has a spiritual conversation with us. We can learn to discover where our seeking friends and strangers are in their journey and help them move forward towards maturity.
Find the next step
Once we discover their spiritual thirst, we can learn to recognize where they are in journey.
The farmer is able to observe the growth process, we can too.
The challenge for us is
- to be patient
- to trust the sovereignty of God
- to not rush the process
Lord Jesus, thank You for helping me place my faith in You as my Lord and Savior.
I thank you that You planted that seed of the word into my life and that it has blossomed into a relationship with You.
I pray for my friends today that you would help the seeds that have been planted in their life to sprout and grow into a place ready for harvest.
Grant me the eyes to see where they are in the process, the patience to wait on your timing, and the joy of watching their growth towards you.
Take some time to day to journal about the friends you are praying for.
- Ask God to help you discern their journey and where they are on it.
- Ask God to give you insight on their spiritual need and how you might help their growth.
- Ask God to help you have a conversation this week with one of those friends to help them grow.
Spend some time writing out your answers.
Note: At this time, the series plug-in is broken. To see other entries in this 30 days of prayer series, look at the Prayer category. | <urn:uuid:dff4ad6c-b0f5-4013-8a78-93c2f1ce6c82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.evangelismcoach.org/2011/30-days-of-prayer-day-13-conversion-process-is-discernable/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963083 | 901 | 2.1875 | 2 |
2. LotR, Appendix B, The Tale of Years, The Second Age.
3. Ibid., The Third Age
4. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (S), 1977: Quenta Silmarillion, Chapters 18, 20 and 24; Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age.
5. J.R.R. Tolkien, Unfinished Tales (UT), 1980: Aldarion and Erendis, p. 199.
6. The Henneth-Annun poll set up to investigate this (closed 8/27/2003), shows that almost two thirds of the HA members who cast their vote prefer Gil-galad to be Fingon's son. The remaining third is divided over five other options. Approximately one in six prefers Orodreth as Gil-galad's father, while one in six doesn't care or would rather not have known. Given the relatively small number of members who voted, a majority of the HASA population is either not interested in Gil-galad or doesn't care about polls.
7. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Peoples of Middle-earth (PME), The History of Middle-earth, Volume 12, Christopher Tolkien, 1996: pp. 359-351 (pb ed. of 1997).
8. Ibid, p. 350
9. J.R.R. Tolkien, The War of the Jewels (WJ), The History of Middle-earth, Volume 11, Christopher Tolkien, 1995, pp. 56, 243 (quoted from pb ed. of 1996).
10. PME, p. 347 (Ereinion), 331 (dating of Shibboleth)
11. UT, p. 266
12. PME, p. 351. The name Finellach, evolved from Finlachen through the intermediate Finhenlach, only appears in the manuscript of Aldarion and Erendis.
13. PME, p. 349
14. PME, p. 351
15. PME, p. 345 and 361, note 35
16. PME, p. 351
17. For instance Erunyauve in The Boy King and For Love of Mithril and Earonn in What Really Matters and Narn Gil-galad, (all found at fanfiction.net). Incidentally, Erunyauve offers another possible argument in favour of Fingon's paternity: in a footnote to Ch. 3 of For Love of Mithril she points out that Gil-galad's emblem - silver stars on a blue field - is reminiscent of the blue and silver banners of Fingolfin (see Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien, London 1979, Section 47, Heraldic Devices, and QS, Ch. XII Of the Return of the Noldor). Her solution is to assume that blue and silver are the colours of the High King of the Noldor in Middle-earth. Another explanation would be, that the emblems, dating from the 60's, were designed before Tolkien decided to make Gil-galad Finarfin's grandson instead of Fingolfin's.
18. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lost Road, The History of Middle-earth, Volume 5, Christopher Tolkien, 1987.
19. LR, p. 29
20. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lays of Beleriand, The History of Middle-earth, Volume 3, Christopher Tolkien, 1985, p. 24
21. LR, p. 33
22. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lays of Beleriand (LB), The History of Middle-earth, Volume 3, Christopher Tolkien, 1985: The Lay of Leithian, Canto VII, p. 230, 231 (here, too, Sauron goes by the name of Thû).
23. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the Shadow (RS), The History of Middle-earth, Volume 6, Christopher Tolkien, 1988, p. 215, 216
24. RS, p. 189; the date is some time prior to November 1938.
25. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Treason of Isengard (TI), The History of Middle-earth, Volume 7, Christopher Tolkien, 1989, p. 123-125 (Gil-galad's parentage); 116 (approximate time of writing).
26. PoM, p. 172 (date), 173, 174 (Gil-galad son of Felagund; Galadriel sister of Gil-galad).
27. WJ, p. 242. The spelling Eglorest is not a typo for Eglarest, as it would be called later. The italics are Tolkien's.
28. WJ, p. 44, 62, 67
29. WJ, p. 242
30. WJ, p. 243
31. S, QS, Ch. 15, Of the Noldor in Beleriand
32. J.R.R. Tolkien, Morgoth's Ring, The History of Middle-earth, Volume 10, Christopher Tolkien, 1993, p. 213 ( pb edition)
33. PME, p. 350
34. HoMe Volumes III-V are quite consistent about the fact that Orodreth had a son, Halmir 'the Hunter' (V: also 'Haldir'), who was slain (III) or hanged (IV) by Orcs. In HoMe XI, however, the Grey Annals entry mentioning his death - year 488 - is struck out (WJ, p. 82). Did Tolkien already consider replacing Halmir by Gil-galad at the time?
35. ibid, and p. 351.
36. Gil-galad was an Elvenking: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/44954; Martinez is among those who consider Tolkien's last version to be decisive precisely because it is the last one.
37. S, QS, Ch. 16, p. 134. There is more to be said about this, as the above is 1) an opinion expressed by Maeglin and therefore not necessarily true (though in that case one might wonder why Maeglin and not Idril was the first to be considered for the role of King's regent when Turgon marched forth to fight in the Nirnaeth, QS, Ch. 16, p. 138), and 2) seems to contradict the information given in Laws and Customs of the Eldar, p. 213 (pb edition) that Eldarin men and women - neri and nissi - were equal: 'There are no matters which among the Eldar only a nér can think of doing, or others with which only a nís is concerned.' No matters: wouldn't this include ruling a people? Perhaps, but this text also states that women were by natue more inclined to healing and men to using weapons, and that healing powers (regardless of gender) were diminished by the dealing of death. As the (High) Kings of the Noldor were invariably war leaders, would it be too far-fetched to assume that for this reason, there were no High Queens? Even though the L&C state that Eldarin women fought valiantly when in dire straits, occupying a position that presupposes the use of arms and the dealing of death is a different thing.
As the sheer length of this footnote shows that the matter of High Queenship deserves an essay of its own, I'll leave it at this. The same goes for the question whether High Kingship was still relevant at the end of the First Age, when the cause of the Noldor was almost lost.
38. Presumably after the Fall of Gondolin and Turgon's death - which would affirm the assumption that Idril was not a candidate, be it by law, custom, or personal choice. As for the latter possibility: two potential Queens of Númenor refused the sceptre, UT p. 220.
39. PME, p. 350
40. S, QS, Ch. 21, p. 213
41. WJ, p. 354-356
42. S, Foreword, p. 8
43. Tolkien's motives for moving Orodreth down a generation may be connected to the diminishing stature of this character throughout the legendarium. From being a powerful king in his own right in the earliest materials, he evolved into the weak ruler of the tale of Túrin Turambar; as Tolkien noted when meditating the development of the story, Orodreth had devolved into 'rather a weak character' (LB, p. 91). A concomitant, downward movement to a generation that did not acquire full stature of body and mind in the bliss of Valinor may have seemed logical at the time. What time this was, remains unclear, as neither the above-mentioned note nor the later versions of the Narn i Hîn Húrin (UT) are dated, though they are certainly post LotR. (Whether such a move was necessary remains debatable, though.)
44. Reflecting a little more on this, I'm almost inclined to regret the fact that The Silmarillion was published as early as 1977. Commercial considerations and the demands of the fans have been allowed to prevail over the need to do full justice to the author's wishes and intentions by first acquiring a complete grasp of all the existing material, or as complete as was humanly possible. This act of impatience will probably prove a severe hindrance for any future attempt to establish a canon acceptable to all readers even after the expiration of copyright in 2043. On the bright side, it has also brought many readers great joy.
45. PME, p. 351
46. I am aware of the fact that Christopher Tolkien was not the only editor of the 1977 Silmarillion. However, as the role of Guy Gavriel Kay in the matter of Gil-galad's history is unclear to me, I have refrained from mentioning him here, and from speculating about his contribution to the eventual result.
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author. | <urn:uuid:dfb41837-9eb1-447b-9985-9284fb956c3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://henneth-annun.net/stories/chapter_view.cfm?stid=2448&spordinal=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921624 | 2,268 | 2.125 | 2 |
So, you've always had a passion for games. Now you have a few CS or art classes under your belt and you're serious about getting into the indie game development scene. But what's the next step? Allow me to recommend a game jam.
What's a Game Jam? Every jam is a little different, but in general, it's an opportunity for a diverse set of game developers to come together in one place and make game prototypes during a 24-48 hour time window. Most jams cater to all skill levels. In most cases, teams of 4-6 members are randomly chosen at the start of the jam in a way that insures that each team has at least one experienced programmer and one artist.
In most cases, you can choose the development environment you want to work with (Flash, C#, Unity, C++, Java,...) and game ideas are constrained by a theme that's usually announced the day of the competition to prevent participants from planning too much in advance. While some jams will give awards for the favorite games, you shouldn't think of a jam as a competition. It's an environment where everyone wants everyone else to succeed.
In short, if you want to participate, there's no need to do any advance planning. In fact, it's discouraged. Just show up with a computer and get ready to have some fun.
Can you really build a game in 24-48 hours? There are dozens of game jams every year, collectively producing thousands of prototypes. If you get a motivated team, you'd be shocked at what you can do in such a short time. Here are a couple example games I worked on during the 2009 and 2010 Global Game Jams.
M.O.N.K. (Multiplicitous Observable Navigational Killerator) is a 2-person 1-keyboard Flash game made at the 2010 Global Game Jam.
Coopetition is a fully 3D game with dynamic lighting and shadows built in C# and XNA for the 2009 Global Game Jam.
With such strict time constraints, there may be times when a game engine just doesn't come together during the alloted time. But of the ~20 teams that I've seen in the past, everyone always at least had something to show at the end of the weekend. And if you do fail, it can still be a valuable learning experience. It's far better to learn a harsh lesson about team dynamics or game engine construction during a 48-hour jam than it is to learn the same tragic lesson after six months of development.
Where do I sign up? There are several game jams that are just around the corner.
If you know of others, drop me a line and I'll add them to the list. | <urn:uuid:37b9319d-814b-4cd2-97f7-16983f5cdfba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lazy8studios.com/2010/game_jams | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968979 | 562 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Mark Bittman on food and all things related.
Mark Bittman on food and all things related.
For decades, Americans believed that we had the world’s healthiest and safest
That didn’t mean all was well. And we’ve come to recognize that our diet is unhealthful and unsafe. Many food production workers labor in difficult, even deplorable, conditions, and animals are produced as if they were widgets. It would be hard to devise a more wasteful, damaging, unsustainable system.
Here are some ideas — frequently discussed, but sadly not yet implemented — that would make the growing, preparation and consumption of food healthier, saner, more productive, less damaging and more enduring. In no particular order:
End government subsidies to processed food. We grow more corn for livestock and cars than for humans, and it’s subsidized by more than $3 billion annually; most of it is processed beyond recognition. The story is similar for other crops, including soy: 98 percent of soybean meal becomes livestock feed, while most soybean
is used in processed foods. Meanwhile, the marketers of the junk food made from these crops receive oil write-offs for the costs of promoting their wares. Total agricultural subsidies in 2009 were around $16 billion, which would pay for a great many of the ideas that follow. tax
Begin subsidies to those who produce and sell actual food for direct consumption. Small farmers and their employees need to make living wages. Markets — from super- to farmers’ — should be supported when they open in so-called food deserts and when they focus on real food rather than junk food. And, of course, we should immediately increase subsidies for school lunches so we can feed our youth more real food.
Break up the
and empower the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Currently, the U.S.D.A. counts among its missions both expanding markets for agricultural products (like corn and soy!) and providing nutrition education. These goals are at odds with each other; you can’t sell garbage while telling people not to eat it, and we need an agency devoted to encouraging sane eating. Meanwhile, the F.D.A. must be given expanded powers to ensure the safety of our food supply. (Food-related deaths are far more common than those resulting from terrorism, yet the F.D.A.’s budget is about one-fifteenth that of Homeland Security.) Food and Drug Administration
Outlaw concentrated animal feeding operations and encourage the development of sustainable animal husbandry. The concentrated system degrades the environment, directly and indirectly, while torturing animals and producing tainted meat, poultry, eggs, and, more recently, fish. Sustainable methods of producing meat for consumption exist. At the same time, we must educate and encourage Americans to eat differently. It’s difficult to find a principled nutrition and health expert who doesn’t believe that a largely plant-based diet is the way to promote health and attack chronic diseases, which are now bigger killers, worldwide, than communicable ones. Furthermore, plant-based diets ease environmental stress, including
. global warming
Encourage and subsidize home cooking. (Someday soon, I’ll write about my idea for a new Civilian Cooking Corps.) When people cook their own food, they make better choices. When families eat together, they’re more stable. We should provide food education for children (a new form of home ec, anyone?), cooking classes for anyone who wants them and even cooking assistance for those unable to cook for themselves.
Tax the marketing and sale of unhealthful foods. Another budget booster. This isn’t nanny-state paternalism but an accepted role of government: public health. If you support seat-belt, tobacco and alcohol laws, sewer systems and traffic lights, you should support legislation curbing the relentless marketing of soda and other foods that are hazardous to our health — including the sacred cheeseburger and fries.
Read more from the columnist.
Reduce waste and encourage recycling. The environmental stress incurred by unabsorbed fertilizer cannot be overestimated, and has caused, for example, a 6,000-square-mile dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico that is probably more damaging than the
oil spill. And some estimates indicate that we waste half the food that’s grown. A careful look at ways to reduce waste and promote recycling is in order. BP
Mandate truth in labeling. Nearly everything labeled “healthy” or “natural” is not. It’s probably too much to ask that “vitamin water” be called “sugar water with
,” but that’s precisely what real truth in labeling would mean. vitamins
Reinvest in research geared toward leading a global movement in sustainable agriculture, combining technology and tradition to create a new and meaningful Green Revolution.
I’ll expand on these issues (and more) in the future, but the essential message is this: food and everything surrounding it is a crucial matter of personal and public health, of national and global security. At stake is not only the health of humans but that of the earth.
This column appeared in print on February 2, 2011. It will appear in Opinionator regularly. | <urn:uuid:de5b96f5-59a1-4a62-ac4a-9b87b67718aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/a-food-manifesto-for-the-future/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948063 | 1,095 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Coming on the heels of the baseball Hall of Fame vote keeping out Barry Bonds, this latest episode in the annals of doping has sports fans asking: If it's so hard to catch the cheaters, why test at all? Why not just let athletes use anything they want?
The answer is: Our kids.
The full, long-term risks of performance-enhancing drugs such as steroids and human growth hormone aren't fully known, but we know they can have lifelong implications, especially when they're used by teens who are still growing. That's why they're illegal unless a doctor prescribes them.
But young people by nature are poor evaluators of risk; a possibly shortened life span and other threats to long-term health are not on the radar for a 16-year-old, whose whole world may turn on sports.
Based on conservative estimates, more than half a million 14- to 17-year-olds in this country use steroids. That's about 10 percent of male students and 1 percent of girls.
Young males admit they frequently "stack" performance-enhancing drugs in hopes of instant results, using two or more at a time at doses much higher
The most common ones are:
* Anabolic steroids, which are synthetic versions of testosterone that can help develop muscle mass. But taken by youth, steroids can close crucial growth plates before they are fully developed. That can actually lead to stunted growth, and the effect can be irreversible. Steroids also can lead to hypertension and over-aggressive behavior, the worst possible thing for already violence-prone young males.
* Human growth hormone, a small protein made by the pituitary gland that stimulates the growth of bone and cartilage and increases energy and muscle mass. Experts are divided on the extent of its ability to enhance athletic performance, but they agree it can cause nerve, muscle and joint pain, contribute to numbness, carpal tunnel syndrome and high cholesterol and increase the risk of diabetes and cancerous tumors.
Holding up drug abusers as role models for youth would be a terrible thing. There's no choice but to keep trying to get ahead of the cheaters.
The Olympics, NFL and Major League Baseball take in more than $20 billion every year but spend only about $50 million on their testing programs. Lance Armstrong's and Barry Bonds' combined net worth is $200 million. Small wonder the cheaters are still miles ahead of the testers.
This editorial first appeared in the San Jose Mercury-News. | <urn:uuid:189c5dcc-36fe-46f6-a885-bb2935f7e3c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesheraldonline.com/opinion/ci_22439620/kids-catch-cheaters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951824 | 512 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Mar 15, 2013 — The Orchardist is a tale of tenderness and violence in the American West. It appears at No. 8.
Mar 4, 2013 — In fiction, Nathan Englander's short stories, Amanda Coplin's Pacific Northwest drama and Anthony Giardina's tale of miscalculated suburban escape arrive in paperback. In softcover nonfiction, Rachel Maddow takes stock of America's perpetual wars and Lauren F. Winner reflects on her crisis of faith.
Dec 12, 2012 — Some of these novels will touch your heart; others will challenge your mind. One will make you laugh — a few might make you cry. But all of these books recommended by NPR's Lynn Neary will give you and your friends plenty to talk about.
Dec 6, 2012 — To bring the past to life and make it matter, historical fiction must do more than conjure up an exotic backdrop for a conventional story. These six books challenge our preconceptions and help show how the past shaped the world we live in today. | <urn:uuid:9c227615-4a56-4f43-829e-bf9294ab9f19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/nprnews.php?id[160659805]=Orchards | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920247 | 209 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Clean Energy is the 'Space Race' of Our Age
Last Tuesday, as a member of Catholics United, I joined countless others in Washington, D.C., to lobby on behalf of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (HR 2454 ). This bill, which now will go before the Senate after narrowly passing 219-212 in the House of Representatives, promises to curb pollution in America, increase green jobs, and protect the poorest of the poor in the country who may not be able to afford the expenses accompanying a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources.
More specifically, the bill:
- requires that U.S. industries reduce their polluting emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and by 83 percent by 2050.
- seeks to make new and existing buildings more energy efficient.
- plans to invest an estimated $90 billion in clean energy by 2025.
The American Clean Energy and Security Act would place the U.S. among world leaders in developing sustainable energy and technologies. It would also lend the U.S. global legitimacy as it prepares to enter the Copenhagen climate discussions in December. This is essential since the U.S. has fallen behind clean energy leaders in the "space race" of our time.
Though the bill is not perfect, it is a start and could be modified later. The concern now is that American Clean Energy and Security Act passes from the Senate to President Obama's desk. It is my hope that our Republican and Democrat senators recognize the importance of this bill, which, in my opinion, is severely overdue.
In 1982, physicist Fritjof Capra prophetically wrote in The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture that "for the first time we have to face the very real threat of extinction of the human race and of all life on this planet." Among the many threats to life, he cited the mass production of nuclear weapons, the then multi-billion dollar defense budget, and the various environmental threats enveloping the planet, such as blankets of smog covering cities and the plethora of harmful chemicals found in food, water, and the air. This deterioration of the environment, he mentioned, resulted in declining physical and mental health.
Twenty years prior to Capra's work, in 1962, marine-biologist Rachel Carson's landmark book Silent Spring alerted the world to the harmful effects of pesticides (most notably DDT) on humans and the natural world's ability to bring forth life. Writing in the introduction to the fortieth anniversary edition of Silent Spring, Linda Lear praises Carson's work for having initiated "a transformation in the relationship between humans and the natural world and [having] stirred an awakening of public environmental consciousness."
With nearly six decades of growing knowledge and evidence about environmental degradation and its consequences for future generations, what are our politicians waiting for? The time for action is now. After the American Clean Energy and Security passed the House, President Obama said:
My call to every senator, as well as to every American, is this: We cannot be afraid of the future. And we must not be prisoners of the past. Don't believe the misinformation out there that suggests there is somehow a contradiction between investing in clean energy and economic growth.
Will our children and grandchildren look upon us as innovators who do not fear the unknown? Or will they view us as supporters of the status quo who wait for the rest of the world to take charge in the "space race" of our age?
César J. Baldelomar is the executive director of Pax Romana Center for International Study of Catholic Social Teaching and blogs at www.holisticthoughts.com. He is editor of the Notebook Magazine, and he will begin graduate studies at Harvard Divinity School in the fall. | <urn:uuid:ff584115-1f59-4c4d-b86e-b07cfc3a1ff7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sojo.net/blogs/2009/06/29/clean-energy-space-race-our-age?quicktabs_blog_homepage_tabbed_block=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942624 | 766 | 2.25 | 2 |
During winter break, students and faculty have conducted research and performed community service in the United States and abroad. They blogged about their experiences on SMU Adventures. Their trips include:
During J Term 2013, nine students traveled to Jamaica as part of a multidisciplinary Earth Sciences course to conduct geophysical research on earthquake risks. During their trip, the students collected and analyzed geophysical data on land and at sea, and presented their results to Jamaica’s Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.
Taught by SMU Earth Sciences Associate Professor Matt Hornbach and Lyndon Brown of the University of the West Indies, the course is funded in part by the Society of Exploration Geophysicists’ Geoscientists Without Borders program and The Institute for the Study of Earth and Man in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.
“It was a great feeling knowing that by the end of the day, we would have enough data collected to begin piecing together the puzzle of how Earth’s tectonic forces shaped the area and how they might continue to shape the landscape of Jamaica for years to come,” wrote Earth Sciences graduate student Cliff Mauroner. Read their blog.
Eight SMU students, led by Perkins School of Theology Professor Harold J. Recinos and Embrey Human Rights Program Coordinator Sherry Aikman, traveled to El Salvador in January. The group studied human rights atrocities that have occurred in the Central American country during the last 40 years, including the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the Zona Rosa guerrilla attack.
“Today is the day that we visited the site of El Mozote, where in December of 1981, around 1,000 men, women, and children of the village were massacred by the Atlacatl Battalion army in the span of three days,” wrote Emily Mankowski, a junior majoring in human rights and political science. “I have not been able to comprehend how someone would be able to take the lives of innocent people, nor do I think I will ever understand. One thing that I do know is that the memory of those who died must live on.” Read their blog.
Read about trips to Poland and New Orleans below. | <urn:uuid:c2d645a2-97f7-45e2-920a-d62b1a493bea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.smu.edu/parents/category/news/page/3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966365 | 462 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Man's industry searcheth out many things: true wisdom is taught by God alone.
Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted.
Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass.
He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death.
The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at.
The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire.
The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold.
The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it.
The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it.
He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots.
In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing.
The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light.
But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding?
Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights.
The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me.
The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it.
It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire.
Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it.
High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places.
The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing.
Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
It is hid from the eyes of all living. and the fowls of the air know it not.
Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof.
God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof.
For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven.
Who made a weight for the winds and weighed the waters by measure.
When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms.
Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it.
And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding. | <urn:uuid:8be5eea5-e87d-4ebc-9b97-fc14f70683b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=20&ch=28&l=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944792 | 617 | 2.03125 | 2 |
It has been said fear is the absence of faith. Choose faith over fear everyday when you open your eyes. Surrender your fears to God and live the day filled with the joy you can receive from knowing God's promises about worry, fear and anxiety. Faith not fear, dear friends - Faith not fear. Letters of Hope and Faith - Worry, Fear, and Anxiety
I have already been told that everyday which is one word is an adjective, and every day which is two words is a time expression. Unfortunately, I couldn’t master their places in sentence. Will you simplify them? I need a universal, simple rule such this …
Originally Posted by 5jj
Can this statement make sense?
Use everyday (one word) only before a noun. | <urn:uuid:83dbacc8-32da-4d41-9068-a117a9054e9d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ask-teacher/185977-choose-faith-over-fear-everyday.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944175 | 156 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Originally Posted by Killagamer
Of course Cesare and the Borgia's were real living people once, most of the people from the games in this series were. And yes, they're often portrayed quite accurately in the game as well.
You do know that the reason they have all the historical facts and what not in the game is to make it more believable and feel more authentic, right? The warnings are there to keep people like you from thinking it's some huge conspiracy with ubisoft trying to shove their "religous beliefs", as you call it, down gamers throats so some idiot won't try to sue them.
It specifically states that the game was made by individuals that come from different backgrounds and beliefs. They say this to further cement the previous fact, and so that people will realize that those from all walks of life had a hand in making the game. To assure us that the historical and fictional aspects of the game were made purely for entertainment and were never intended to try and dissuade anyone's beliefs. | <urn:uuid:5fea3904-d95e-45d0-8898-bc7daaf643a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=7943685&postcount=268 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990049 | 208 | 1.585938 | 2 |
This work by Sam Irving is one of several you can enjoy at exhibits at two Gilbert libraries this week (Photo courtesy of Gilbert Fire Department)
The town of Gilbert is preparing for Sunday’s dedication of a 9/11 memorial to feature an 8-foot long beam from the World Trade Center.
Recently they invited folks to submit photographs, paintings and drawings with a “Memory of Hope” theme. Selected works are on exhibit through 9/11 at the Southeast Regional and Perry High libraries. www.gilbertaz.gov/911memorial.
One of several works currently on exhibit at the Tucson Jewish Community Center
Contemporary Artists of Southern Arizona has created a mixed media 9/11 memorial called “3,000 Souls” that’s being exhibited at the Tucson Jewish Community Center through Sept 26. ww.tucsonjcc.org/arts.
The ceramics program and fine arts department at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix (part of the Tempe Unified High School District) presents a 9/11 memorial Thurs, Sept 9 from 6-9pm (room 149).
The event features “students from dance and theatre,
choir, speech and band, a special slide and musical tribute, the
signing of victims’ names into a tribute vessel to be delivered to New
York in December, and fundraising for the WTC Health Hospital.” The event is free and open to the public. www.desertvista.schoolfusion.us.
Several 9/11-related items, including a huge ”National Unity Flag” designed and created in Arizona, will be exhibited Sept 9-16 in the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts atrium.
A ”9/11 Memorial Wall” with 2,996 full-color memorial cards featuring biographical information and photographs of 9/11 victims will be exhibited as well.
Scottsdale begins a “9/11 Day of Remembrance” program in the atrium at 1pm on Sun, Sept 11 with a reading of victims’ names.
Keynote speaker Ray Malone, a former New York police office and firefighter, follows in the Virginia G. Piper Theater at 6pm. The evening also includes performances of patriotic music by school bands and choral groups, as well as a candlelight vigil. www.scottsdaleaz.gov.
ProMusica performs with other Valley groups this weekend
ProMusica Arizona Chorale and Orchestra of Anthem will perform Mozart’s ”Requiem” (a work being performed by groups throughout the country on 9/11) at two Valley churches on Sun, Sept 11. www.promusicaaz.org.
Mozart’s “Requiem” is also being performed at a “Remembrance and Renewal” concert at UA’s Centennial Hall in Tucson on Sun, Sept 11 at 3pm. It features the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and Tucson Chamber Artists’ professional choir. www.uapresents.org.
The Damocles Trio, who met as doctoral students at The Juilliard School in NYC, will perform the “Requiem Trio” by Spanish composer Salvador Brotons (b.1959) at Tempe Center for the Arts at 2:30pm on Sun, Sept 11.
The work was ”written especially for the group to commemorate the tragic terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001.” The piece was first performed in Sept 11, 2004 in NYC.
Tempe officials note that “this concert will be linked to the Tempe Beach Park 9/11 Healing Field and other city commemoration events.” The concert also features the music of Dvorak and Villa Lobos. www.damoclestrio.com and www.friendsofTCA.org.
The Tucson Pops Orchestra, with guest conductor George Hanson, performs “Americana: Remember 9/11″ Sun, Sept 11 at Reid Park in Tucson at 6:30pm. www.sept11tucson.org.
The National Unity Flag will hang in Scottsdale this weekend
Folks looking for additional 9/11 memorials and related events can check with local interfaith or religious groups, performing arts venues, universities or colleges, museums, local governments and community centers for local offerings.
If your Arizona organization is presenting a music, dance, theater or visual arts event in remembrance of 9/11, please comment below to let our readers know.
Note: Several 9/11 remembrance events will be televised, including a New York Philharmonic concert with Alan Gilbert conducting Mahler’s “Resurrection” (Sept 11 on PBS). Listen to KJZZ 91.5 all week for 9/11 memorial coverage (including 9 hours of live coverage on 9/11). www.kjzz.org. Watch the ”9/11: 10 Years Later” concert live Thurs, Sept 8 and share your reflections with others at facebook.com/KennedyCenter by clicking on the 9/11 Livestream tab.
Coming up: Remembering 9/11 with literature and love | <urn:uuid:a325628d-879e-4e13-b69f-efbc9c89279f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rakstagemom.wordpress.com/tag/libraries/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920419 | 1,083 | 1.734375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) - The House Republican budget would leave up to 44 million more low-income people uninsured as the federal government cuts states' Medicaid funding by about one-third over the next 10 years, nonpartisan groups said in a report issued Tuesday.
The analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Urban Institute concluded that Medicaid's role as the nation's safety net health care program would be "significantly compromised ... with no obvious alternative to take its place," if the GOP budget is adopted.
The plan passed by House Republicans last month on a party-line vote calls for sweeping health care changes, potentially even more significant than President Barack Obama's insurance overhaul. So far, most of the attention has gone to the Republican proposal to convert Medicare into a voucher-like system for future retirees. But Medicaid would also be transformed.
The Republican budget has no chance of passing the Democratic-led Senate, or being signed into law by Obama. But individual components could advance as part of debt reduction talks between Vice President Joe Biden and congressional leaders.
A spokesman for the author of the GOP budget, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, challenged the study's assumptions. The Republican plan will allow Medicaid to grow "at a sustainable rate, so that the health care safety net will be there for those that need it most," said Conor Sweeney. Obama's overhaul will force millions more into a broken system, relegating vulnerable people to second-class care, he added.
Medicaid is a federal-state partnership that now covers more than 60 million low-income children and parents, seniors, including most nursing home residents, and disabled people of any age. Under the GOP plan, Medicaid would be converted from an open-ended program in which the federal government pays about 60 percent of the cost of services, into a block grant that would give each state a fixed sum of money.
The budget would also do away with the right to Medicaid benefits under federal law, and repeal a coverage expansion to low-income adults included in Obama's health care law.
Republican governors say they can save taxpayers billions through a block grant that would let them clear away federal red tape and design health care systems tailored to local needs. But the study cast doubt on whether governors would have enough money coming in from Washington to adequately meet the needs of their states and avoid sharp cuts in services.
Under current laws, Medicaid is expected to cover 76 million people in 2021, the end of the ten-year estimating window used in federal budgeting. Of those, some 17 million would gain coverage under Obama's expansion.
The study estimated that 31 million to 44 million people would lose coverage from the combined impact of the block grant and repealing Obama's law. Researchers said they gave a range to account for different approaches that states might take to reduce their Medicaid rolls. Under the worst case, Medicaid enrollment would plunge by nearly 60 percent from current projected levels.
The study found that federal spending for Medicaid would decline by $1.4 trillion from 2012-2021, a reduction of about one-third from what is now budgeted. Southern and mountain states would face the steepest cuts. Florida, for example, would take a 44 percent hit, while Nevada would get a 41 percent reduction.
Hospitals, community health centers and other health care providers that serve low-income people would be disproportionately affected. In 2021 hospitals would face Medicaid funding cuts of $84 billion, the study said, at a time when growing numbers of uninsured people would be going to emergency rooms for treatment.
"Some cuts in payments to hospitals are inevitable if health care spending is to be reduced," the report said. "But these reductions are of such a magnitude that they have quite serious implications ... higher levels of uncompensated care facing hospitals would inevitably lead to increased spending by state and local governments."
Kaiser Family Foundation: www.kff.org | <urn:uuid:9f174800-a13d-4d07-b3fa-a48063a9b4b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/10/report-up-to-44m-more-uninsured-under-gop-budget/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966078 | 789 | 1.75 | 2 |
The plan is meant to prevent corruption and put money directly in the hands of the needy. While economists believe the system will improve efficiency throughout the country, trails in Rajasthan were considered a failure.Thursday Dec 13, 2012
Protesters gathered in New Delhi on Thursday to oppose a government plan that would transform India's corruption-ridden welfare system by replacing subsidies with direct cash transfers.
The ruling Congress party, which is looking to the policy as a major vote-winner ahead of elections in 2014, has started trials of the scheme and hopes to introduce it nationwide next year.
Instead of buying food, fuel and fertilizer at discounted rates from a government shop, those with identity cards will be paid cash by the government to purchase the goods at market prices.
Many economists believe the system will improve efficiency and reduce massive graft, but the realities of implementing the huge changes have sparked widespread opposition.
"Cash transfers cannot be a substitute for anything that has to do with food especially when malnutrition is such a huge issue in the country," Kavita Srivastava, convenor of the Right to Food Campaign, told AFP at the protest.
"Instead of dismantling the current system, the government should remove the flaws and consolidate its work," she said.
Under the cash model, the government can keep track of the funds it spends, cut endemic graft among middle-men, and even make the money conditional on beneficial things such as sending children to school.
But a trial in Rajasthan has hit trouble due to cash not getting through to many of the 250,000 residents involved, even though they were listed on a new unique identity program that is key to the welfare shake-up.
"The cash transfer scheme which was tried at the grassroots level has been a complete failure," Annie Raja, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women, told AFP at the rally in central New Delhi.
The government has vowed to press ahead with the scheme as part of its pro-poor efforts, and has ordered banking and technology infrastructure improvements to enable the new mechanism to function.
"We believe that the new system, which we will introduce, will be more transparent," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told parliament on Thursday. "It will eliminate leakages, delays, duplicates and falsification."
Copyright (2012) AFP. All rights reserved.
This article was distributed through the NewsCred Smartwire. Original article © Agence France Presse 2013 | <urn:uuid:444571e7-c876-47a1-8270-a238e989145f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://india.nydailynews.com/newsarticle/64d801cfc088a19f7706f0c6085b9219/indias-cash-hand-out-welfare-reforms-draw-protests | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969381 | 500 | 1.875 | 2 |
The story goes like this-
Long ago, during the 17th century, the O’Neills and O’Reillys were two revolutionary Irish families. They formed a rowing competition to reserve rights to some highly regarded land. The two rowing teams agreed that the first to touch the land would have their choice of the land on the other side. The youngest sibling on the O'Reilly boat didn't want to miss out on this opportunity, so he grabbed his own sword, cut off his hand and threw it ashore. He ruled over County Cavan and this land still remains in the O'Reilly family. | <urn:uuid:7c319712-7be9-4d8c-a150-c0c1e0ccde63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.linwoodwineco.com/sku19415.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987977 | 128 | 2.203125 | 2 |
In a recent article in eMarketer we got the low down on the problem with Facebook advertising: no one pays attention to them. In a May 2012 poll by the Associated Press (AP) and CNBC, 83% of Facebook users in the USA hardly ever, or never, clicked on online ads or sponsored content when using Facebook.
Although Facebook still has a lot of daily engagement, people don't stay on one page for very long and move quickly from page to page. They aren't interested in the ads. Getting a consumer to click through a brand website is difficult.
Consumers don't like to leave the Facebook environment. “A very common thing for a lot of advertisers is when they try to direct users off of Facebook, they find that their conversion rates are considerably lower than if they try to keep them within the Facebook environment,” says Chad Warren, senior manager of social media product marketing at Adobe.
Let's remember that Radio increases website traffic by 52%, which means using Radio to drive traffic to your Facebook fan page, or to your personal website, is the way to go. Radio starts the conversation, which then leads clients to more direct clicks.
Would you call your iPod or CD a Radio? No. Because Radio is an electromagnetic feed that catches your ear, and you hear live people from far way places. This feed invites you into the world of talk, song, story and news.
A digital music mix is not a Radio.
Apparently, Pandora is learning this lesson the hard way as highly satisfied users are falling away even more rapidly today than they were two years ago, according to a new study by the Bridge Ratings.
"Satisfaction is likely to turn even lower in order to overcome the cost of Pandora's per song royalty rates....There is a good chance that the need to increase ads/hour will grow even faster due to even higher royalty costs in the coming years," says Richard Greenfield in a post on BTIG Research.
This means that the geno project idea may not have been innovative enough to keep people listening. At the end of the day, there is no human interaction. People grow bored. Its initial attraction was no commercials, now that it has commercials people are even less likely to seek it out.
One of the main problems is that the number of songs Pandora has in its index is not very big. Terrestrial Radio has a long history of learning what it takes to keep people listening. And, after all these years it still is the number one place people go to find new music.
How sticky is your slogan? Sticky slogans are slogans that people remember - they get inside your head and don't go away. They make people remember a brand, a product or a campaign. This video shows you how to make yours more memorable.
The results are in. This is what small business owners said about Tim Miles: This is Your Brain on Marketing. There were 42 respondents out of 112 attendees. The entire survey is at the bottom of the page.
Here are the highlights:
100% said they would recommend other business owners to attend a Tim Miles Seminar.
75% were so impressed they want to make time to meet with Tim next time he is in town.
97% said that they will use the information provided to improve their daily business.
62.9% want a workshop designed to help with crafting a marketing position and strategy.
A sampling of what was said about the content of Tim's presentation:
"I saw his presentation in October, but I never get tired of hearing his advice, and I found the personality test fascinating."
"I learned what motivates consumers and when it's useful to market to the various types."
"I like his advertising philosophy and his basics for a well run business."
"Every thing about the distribution funnel diagram."
"The discussion about owning radio real estate before moving on to another station."
"All of it. Some confirmed what I already knew. Thank you for reaffirming the snail mail mailers don't work and to be consistent with message...Most useful is how the brain reacts, and the chocolate ad paradigm."
"Radio takes time so be patient. Treat it like a campaign instead of one commercial forever. Produce a clever slogan or saying that is used on every ad."
"All of it! It was a great presentation and I hope to come back in October!"
"The most memorable quote was, "advertising is the penalty you pay for being unremarkable." I also liked the idea that advertising must engage the mind in specific ways to be effective and something other than white noise."
"I learned the difference between Transactional v Relational Customers."
"Learning about breaking through the broca part of the brain."
"How important telling a story is to getting your message across. Also, being realistic about how many people you want to reach, and customers you can handle well vs people just in the door."
(Bragging Father’s Note: It’s worth pointing out that our son was non-verbal just a couple years ago. We never cease to be awed by his progress, his mind and the patient guidance he receives from his teachers, therapists and classmates.)
The morning after I’d gotten back from speaking to a group of not-for-profit organizations, Will said to me:
“Daddy, you should come speak to my class.”
“Will, what should I talk about?”
“I don’t know. Rachel’s mom talked about Hanukkah. Do you want to talk about Hanukkah?”
“Probably not, buddy.”
“Okay. You think about it.”
So I did.
Listen, I’ve spoken on a stage in front of more than a thousand people, and it didn’t produce more than a flutter of anxiety, but at that moment – trying to imagine holding the interest of a group of forty discerning elementary school students – I nearly soiled one of Baby Sarah’s diapers.
How could I engage them?
Well, with storytelling, I suppose. It’s kinda what I do.
So I thought about every Pixar movie we love and deconstructed a simple, foolproof method for inventing any story that I could then teach to the children.
I think. It’s seemed foolproof. It worked on my son. But – I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this – he’s alarmingly and unfairly intelligent. And handsome.
Daddy’s Fool-proof, Sure-fire, Rock-solid, Lots-of-hyphens Storytelling Formula
Answer these questions:
Who’s your story about?
Is anybody with them? Who?
Where are they going?
Is there a bad guy?
What’s in their way?
How do they get around it?
How do they live happily ever after?
Go ahead, try it. Tell me you couldn’t write a great story following that formula.
Oh, and tell me also – isn’t that pretty much strategic planning? Couldn’t you use it to simplify the problems facing your business? Try it the next time your worries get too big.
This short documentary by Sound Cloud is a collection of insights and opinions from sound experts (music producers, soundscape composers and composers) to explain why sound is so important to the way we connect with the world.
Can you imagine driving without having access to a Radio in your car? Think how awkward that would feel. Even if you had all the bells, whistles and the best the 4G connection the world could offer, wouldn't you feel even slightly disconnected without a Radio?
Apparently, most car consumers think so.
Portable media devices in the car may have become a new trend, but traditional car Radios are still in high demand. “Traditional radio and CD audio remain firmly entrenched in the vehicle from both a device and entertainment standpoint,” wrote Ben Arnold, NPD’s director of industry analysis in a blog post. “But as ownership of mobile devices, digital content and apps expands, consumers will be looking for ways to customize the in-vehicle environment with content and services.”
Seventy-three percent of vehicle owners with an FM radio use it during most car trips. During an unobstructed ride the average commute time in the Portland Metro area is 24 minutes to work and back. However, when you take traffic into account time spent in the car and on the Radio can significantly increase. Despite the big push to create bicycle lanes and light rail lines in recent years, the Portland Metro area remains nearly as car dependent as the Puget Sound and California, according to USA census data.
Who Drives Alone?
Multnomah County 63.4%drive alone to work 35 is the median age $49,171is the median income
Clackamas County 75.5%drive alone daily to work 34.5 is the median age $62,030 is the median income
Washington County 73.8% drive alone daily to work 34.5 is the median age $62,218 is the median income
Clark County 78% drive alone daily to work 34.5 is the median age $62,218 is the median income | <urn:uuid:ab6dcb79-4fec-4c73-860c-598f063ac87b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://parc.typepad.com/win_with_local_radio_port/2012/05/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962124 | 1,947 | 1.679688 | 2 |
UCLA scientists unlock mystery of how 'handedness' arises
By Melody Pupols May 08, 2012 Category: Research
The overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our bodies display a striking molecular characteristic: They can exist in two distinct forms that are mirror images of each other, like your right hand and left hand. Surprisingly, each of our bodies prefers only one of these molecular forms.
This mirror-image phenomenon — known as chirality or "handedness" — has captured the imagination of a UCLA research group led by Thomas G. Mason, a professor of chemistry and physics and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.
Mason has been exploring how and why chirality arises, and his newest findings on the physical origins of the phenomenon were published May 1 in the journal Nature Communications.
"Objects like our hands are chiral, while objects like regular triangles are achiral, meaning they don't have a handedness to them," said Mason, the senior author of the study. "Achiral objects can be easily superimposed on top of one another."
Why many of the important functional molecules in our bodies almost always occur in just one chiral form when they could potentially exist in either is a mystery that has confounded researchers for years.
"Our bodies contain important molecules like proteins that overwhelmingly have one type of chirality," Mason said. "The other chiral form is essentially not found. I find that fascinating. We asked, 'Could this biological preference of a particular chirality possibly have a physical origin?'"
In addressing this question, Mason and his team sought to discover how chirality occurs in the first place. Their findings offer new insights into how the phenomenon can arise spontaneously, even with achiral building-blocks.
Mason and his colleagues used a manufacturing technique called lithography, which is the basis for making computer chips, to make millions of microscale particles in the shape of achiral triangles. In the past, Mason has used this technique to "print" particles in a wide variety of shapes, and even in the form of letters of the alphabet.
Using optical microscopy, the researchers then studied very dense systems of these lithographic triangular particles. To their surprise, they discovered that the achiral triangles spontaneously arranged themselves to form two-triangle "super-structures," with each super-structure exhibiting a particular chirality.
In the image that accompanies this article, the colored outlines in the field of triangles indicate chiral super-structures having particular orientations.
So what is causing this phenomenon to occur? Entropy, says Mason. His group has shown for the first time that chiral structures can originate from physical entropic forces acting on uniform achiral particles.
"It's quite bizarre," Mason said. "You're starting with achiral components — triangles — which undergo Brownian motion and you end up with the spontaneous formation of super-structures that have a handedness or chirality. I would never have anticipated that in a million years."
Entropy is usually thought of as a disordering force, but that doesn't capture its subtler aspects. In this case, when the triangular particles are diffusing and interacting at very high densities on a flat surface, each particle can actually maximize its "wiggle room" by becoming partially ordered into a liquid crystal (a phase of matter between a liquid and a solid) made out of chiral super-structures of triangles.
"We discovered that just two physical ingredients — entropy and particle shape — are enough to cause chirality to appear spontaneously in dense systems," Mason said. "In my 25 years of doing research, I never thought that I would see chirality occur in a system of achiral objects driven by entropic forces."
As for the future of this research, "We are very interested to see what happens with other shapes and if we can eventually control the chiral formations that we see occurring here spontaneously," he said.
"To me, it's intriguing, because I think about the chiral preference in biology," Mason added. "How did this chiral preference happen? What are the minimum ingredients for that to occur? We're learning some new physical rules, but the story in biology is far from complete. We have added another chapter to the story, and I'm amazed by these findings."
To learn more, a message board accompanies the publication in Nature Communications, an online journal, as a forum for interactive discussion.
This research was funded by the University of California. Kun Zhao, a postdoctoral researcher in Mason's laboratory, made many key contributions, including fabricating the triangle particles, creating the two-dimensional system of particles, performing the optical microscopy experiments, carrying out extensive particle-tracking analysis and interpreting the results.
Along with Mason, co-author Robijn Bruinsma, a UCLA professor of theoretical physics and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, contributed to the understanding of the chiral symmetry breaking and the liquid crystal phases.
UCLA is California's largest university, with an enrollment of nearly 38,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The UCLA College of Letters and Science and the university's 11 professional schools feature renowned faculty and offer 337 degree programs and majors. UCLA is a national and international leader in the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletic programs. Six alumni and five faculty have been awarded the Nobel Prize. | <urn:uuid:5c08b469-e9a2-4f53-aa7e-ec36660cb724> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/PRN-ucla-scientists-unlock-a-molecular-232837.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957977 | 1,132 | 3.21875 | 3 |
TOP STORY >> Court oversight should end, say experts in court
Leader senior staff writer
Pulaski County Special School District is unitary—or desegregated—for purposes of discipline, student enrollment and teacher assignment, more so than most districts that have been declared unitary and more than most districts in the United States, experts testified Monday and Tuesday before District Judge Brian S. Miller.
While simple numbers show that blacks are more likely to be disciplined than whites, economic status and not race is the determining factor in all areas of achievement and discipline nationwide, Christine Rossell testified Tuesday. Rossell, a Boston University professor who is a statistician and a social scientist, said that explains why black students are suspended disproportionately.
Tuesday was the second day of testimony in a PCSSD desegregation hearing that could last three weeks, according to John Walker, lead attorney for the Joshua Intervenors, who oppose a finding of unitary status in the decades-old desegregation case.
PCSSD and its attorney, Sam Jones, opened the hearing Monday with David Armor, Rossell’s colleague and co-author, who testified that the district was unitary for racial balance regarding student enrollment and teacher assignment.
Armor uses a standard of plus or minus 15 percent to evaluate teacher assignment by race compared to the census data, and plus or minus 20 percent for student assignment at a school.
Armor said his standards had passed muster with the U.S. Supreme Court in at least one previous case.
He said absolute racial balance in all schools is “virtually impossible to ever hope to achieve.”
“In my opinion, the PCSSD has adopted and implemented a desegregation plan that has been effective in meeting the requirements of unitary status that courts have established in the areas of student and staff assignment,” according to Armor, a George Mason University professor of public policy.
Virtually all PCSSD schools except Harris Elementary and Bayou Meto Elementary, which is exempt as a geographically isolated school, meet Armor’s standard.
“The only feasible way to desegregate Harris is to close it,” Armor said.
Both Rossell and Armor were paid by the state to study those areas, write reports and testify.
The Little Rock and North Little Rock districts and PCSSD have been intertwined for about 30 years in the complicated and expensive “solution” to school segregation in Pulaski County.
The Little Rock School District has been declared unitary. Miller heard the North Little Rock School District petition for unitary status in February and the PCSSD hearing started Monday.
Miller has said he won’t make a ruling in either case until he has reviewed the transcripts.
Some Jacksonville residents believe a declaration of unitary status for PCSSD would bring Jacksonville a step closer to having its own school district.
“The Pulaski County Special School District has eliminated vestiges of racism…discipline is not meted out on the bases of race and it meets the conditions of unitary for discipline,” Rossell said.
Hired by the state, she conducted a study that concluded:
The racial disparity in suspensions is almost entirely caused by differences in the rates of poverty between the races—a factor outside the control of the district;
There is no evidence of racial discrimination on the part of white administrators;
Racial disparities are less than most districts that have attained unitary status and
PCSSD has complied with the discipline requirements of its court orders to the extent practicable and should be declared unitary in that area.
She praised the PCSSD’s student handbooks as “probably the most detailed…I’ve seen.”
Using the qualifications for the free school-lunch program as a definition of poverty, Rossell said the qualifying for a free lunch is the greatest predictor of whether or not a student is likely to be a discipline problem—based on suspensions.
Although the district has more white students than black, a higher percentage of black students qualify for the free lunches.
The district has done an extraordinary job in creating a clear and fair district-wide discipline management plan, she said.
“We will see the disparity disappear when poverty disappears,” she said.
“Students spend (only) 9 percent of their time in school by the time they are 18,” she said, adding there wasn’t much a district could do to counter the bad effects of poverty at home on discipline and achievement.
Rossell drew laughter from the Joshua and Knight Intervenors when she said of racial discrimination, “If you do the proper statistical analysis, you can almost make it disappear.”
Questioned by the judge, who asked a lot of questions and has exhibited curiosity and humor throughout the first two days of the hearing, she said that racial prejudice still exists, but that actual discrimination on the basis of race is rare because it is socially and legally unacceptable. She said that when it appears that banks are discriminating against blacks in making loans, if you factored in all the data—such as financial history, job history, credit scores—than the racial disparity disappears and that it’s poverty and not race that’s the critical factor.
Robert Pressman, an attorney for the Joshua Intervenors, spent about two hours attacking Rossell’s credibility and challenging her methods and motivation.
He quoted a judge in one case as saying, “Dr. Rossell’s credibility was not credible.”
Under redirect examination by Jones, the PCSSD attorney, Rossell said she had generally favorable reviews by the judges in the cases she testified in, and that she had been told she knew desegregation law better than many desegregation lawyers.
Pressman noted that Rossell used free lunches as the poverty standard, while she previously used free and reduced lunches combined in her analysis.
Rossell said students could come from lower-middle-class and middle-class homes and still qualify for reduced lunches, meaning it wasn’t a good indicator of poverty.
Pressman asked if she didn’t always find districts to meet unitary standards when they were her employers. She said she often found districts to not meet unitary standards in some areas and then advised them not to apply for unitary status until they had met those standards.
Pressman also asked her whether or not she had considered the terms of the Plan 2000 desegregation agreement.
She agreed that she hadn’t studied whether or not various guidelines were met for erasing the disparity in discipline because it’s attributable to poverty and at a very reasonable level.
Also Monday, Laura Shirley, director of the gifted and talented and advanced placement program, said partially in order to eliminate the disparity between percentages and numbers of blacks and whites in those classes, they had been thrown open to all students who wanted to take them.
“We meet the standard and we’re compliant,” Shirley said.
She was cross-examined by Walker, who asked, “You have a recruitment strategy to increase black participation. Have you found that a number of black students start out in AP classes, then drop out?”
“That happens,” said Shirley.
“Have you assisted (school) principals to work to get more AP blacks?” Walker asked her, referring to a provision in the Plan 2000 desegregation agreement.
She said she had done so. | <urn:uuid:7899d55f-17a4-4d93-b6eb-68d9cbe40ec5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arkansasleader.com/2010/03/top-story-court-oversight-should-end.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965231 | 1,568 | 1.789063 | 2 |
I CAN’T understand people opposing the planting of trees (‘‘Residents want to see sea, not trees’’ Herald 8/5).
Trees are vital to our planet. They produce half of Earth’s oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. They provide wind breaks and help stop erosion. They provide shade, shelter and food for our animals and birds, and are loved for their beauty.
It is important that the next generation of children growing up will be able to see their beauty.
More than enough trees are cut down all over the world, so we should be promoting the planting of trees and getting back to nature. | <urn:uuid:903e2fde-5d96-4fcd-8b0a-23b037bfe29f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theherald.com.au/story/116035/poetry-in-our-streets/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937399 | 136 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Minoo shared three fall ingredients featured recipes in the South Arm Multi Cultural Community Kitchen.
The first recipe is a Kale Slaw with Peanut Dressing. The texture difference between the whole peanuts, ground peanuts, and pureed peanuts in the sauce is one of the things that makes this slaw so wonderful.
The above is an article that Minoo shared in the kitchen about the interesting culinary uses of Kale. You can click on the image to have a larger view.
Source: via Minoo; Serves 6 to 8
- 2 large bunches curly or lacinato kale, about 2 pounds
- 2 red bell peppers, cleaned and cut into fine strips
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 3/4 cup roasted, salted peanuts, divided
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon packed light-brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
Fold each leaf of kale in half lengthwise and slice out the center rib. Discard or keep for making stocks. Roll a stack of leaves up and slice in half lengthwise, then crosswise into very fine ribbons. You will have 10 to 12 cups of finely chopped kale in the end. Wash and rinse thoroughly in a salad spinner.Slice the carrot very thin, either by creating curls with a peeler, or by running the halved carrot lengthwise down a mandolin.Toss the kale with the sliced bell peppers, carrot peels and 1/2 cup of the peanuts.
In a chopper or small food processor, briefly puree the remaining 1/4 cup peanuts, oil, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper flakes.
Pulse it just a few times; the peanuts should be partially pureed, but still with some nibs and nubs still left in the dressing.
Toss the dressing with the slaw and let it sit for at least a few minutes before serving.P/S: We had to double the amount of dressing due to amount of slaw we had.
The beautiful carrots were given by Richmond Sharing Farm for the use in the community kitchen. | <urn:uuid:f2b83346-d405-4057-93d5-a44d91e18e98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ireallylikefood.com/768753668/kale-slaw-with-peanut-dressing/?cuttag=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914344 | 454 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Goal Is To Raise
Awareness Of River
BY ANDREW JONES
The Middle Nolichucky Watershed Alliance (MNWA) conducted a float trip on Saturday down about 10 miles of the Nolichucky River.
Participants of a wide range of ages showed up at the meeting location, a gravel parking area under Kinser Bridge.
With canoes and kayaks in the group, the group of about 20 set off down the Nolichucky following a group picture.
Will Nissley, the Americorps volunteer with MNWA, organized and helped promote the trip.
The purpose of the outing, according to Nissley, was to raise awareness of the presence of the MNWA and let people know there is an organization committed to preserving the water for future generations.
Nissley also believes that a greater awareness goes beyond preservation.
He reasons that, as the Nolichucky River becomes more of a tourist destination, the money generated will help the region as a whole.
He also noted that the Nolichucky River is the primary drinking water source for Greene County.
Even beyond the practical and prudent, the river is beautiful and a great place for fishing, canoeing, and swimming. Wildlife is also frequently sighted along the river.
The float trip group left the river at the Joe Johnson Recreation Area beside Bird's Bridge on the Old Asheville Highway.
The participants seemed to agree that it was a fun escapade.
Tanner Hulsey, 6, of Greeneville, said the most fun part was stopping to swim at a sandbar in the river.
Angie Taylor, also of Greeneville, enjoyed the event and said it was "good family fun" for her and two of her children.
Her son Lincoln Taylor, a 17-year-old soon-to-be senior at Greeneville High School, agreed with his mother.
"It was awesome," he said, "quite the adventure."
He noted that he saw some wild turkeys, fish jumping, and great blue herons along the route.
To find out more about the MNWA, visit their facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Middle-Nolichucky-Watershed-Alliance/195038473783. | <urn:uuid:45807e34-4d2b-437b-b925-09c3a4f1e0a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenevillesun.com/Local_News/article/Groups-River-Float-Highlights-Nolichucky-id-320486 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957961 | 480 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Located at Port Blair, stood mute witness to the tortures meted out to the freedom fighters, who were incarcerated in this Jail. The Jail, completed in the year 1906 acquired the name, ‘cellular’ because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. It originally was a seven pronged, puce-coloured building with central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. The building was subsequently damaged and presently three out of the seven prongs are intact. The Jail, now a place of pilgrimage for all freedom loving people, has been declared a National Memorial.
The penal settlement established in Andamans by the British after the First War of Independence in 1857 was the beginning of the agonising story of freedom fighters in the massive and awful jails at Viper Island followed by the Cellular Jail. The patriots who raised their voice against the British Raj were sent to this Jail, where many perished. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose hoisted the tri-colour flag to proclaim Independence on 30th December 1943 at a place near this Jail.
This three-storeyed prison, constructed by Britishers in 1906, is a pilgrimage destination for freedom fighters. This colossal edifice has mutely witnessed the most treacherous of inhumane atrocities borne by the convicts, who were mostly freedom fighters. Now dedicated to the nation as a National Memorial.
The saga of the heroic freedom struggle is brought alive in a moving Son-et-Lumiere, shown daily inside the jail compound at 6.00 PM (Hindi) and 7.15 PM (English). Also there is a Museum, an Art gallery, and a Photo gallery, which are open on all days except Monday from 9.00 AM to 12 Noon and 2.00 PM to 5.00 PM. | <urn:uuid:de0af66c-93b7-407d-82f8-61d1ce7556f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.exploreandamanwithkariappa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=91 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96835 | 380 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Top summer learning activities for tykes
Top tips for keeping your preschooler or kindergartner sharp this summer.
By Jacquie Goetz Bluethmann
Scribblers and scribes
Young children can work on writing skills by keeping a summer journal — chronicling family trips, day camps, and what they’re looking forward to next year. To keep it light and fun, add in illustrations, word collages, and photos with handwritten captions. Even if you have to do most of the writing for your preschooler or kindergartner, journal keeping will reinforce the lesson that writing is valuable — and fun.
Retired kindergarten teacher Mary Kay Goetz suggests taking your child to the store to pick out a notebook and a fun pen to get him excited about journaling. (Or download and print this free summer journal.) "Kids don’t have to journal every day, but they should do it a few times a week," Goetz says. When they do, sit down and read the entries together. Young children love recounting their own stories! free summer journal.
Sidewalk chalk is another fun, easy way to work on writing skills. Have your child practice letters, words, and even sentences on the driveway. At the beach, use Mother Nature's blackboard by writing together in the sand with a rock or a stick, then letting the waves erase your words so you can start over again.
Next: The daily number » | <urn:uuid:fcb525d7-d3a2-466c-a3ae-f5f4cb3426f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatschools.org/students/summer-activities/slideshows/4166-summer-learning-young-kids.gs?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919711 | 300 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Adam Wang, a freshman at Christian Brothers Academy, wrote this essay for The Post-Standard's June 21 Voices page.
By Adam Wang
I know education is important in order to be successful in life. Education leads to more job opportunities and a wider variety of jobs to choose from.
Regents exams are a big part of our education in New York state. Regents exams are used to test the skills and knowledge we’ve learned in different subjects. Passing a number of Regents exams is required for students to graduate from high school.
I think the exams are very important. They are not only a grade on report cards, but they are also recorded as a state exam score.
Regents exams help you and teachers see if you are on the right track and where you stand among other students on the subject being tested. The exams could help determine if you need extra help in some subject areas. I don’t think report cards alone are helpful in determining where you stand . Report-card grades only represent information you learned for that time period.
I don’t think the state should eliminate the Regents exams to save money on the budget. Regents exams highlight the skills and knowledge required for that specific subject’s standards. | <urn:uuid:c872afd9-f202-46b0-bb19-f08dbec6cd85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.syracuse.com/voices/2010/06/adam_wang_standards_shouldnt_b.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951995 | 256 | 2.390625 | 2 |
(Photo by Catherine Strong)
This report from the front lines of the Turkish election was produced by Northeastern University students traveling to Turkey and Jordan as part of the college's Dialogue of Civilization program. This Dialogue, involving 19 students and three professors, is a collaboration between the School of Journalism and the departments of Photography and International Affairs.
ISTANBUL -- Less than 24 hours before Sunday night’s parliamentary elections, the Sultanahmet neighborhood was a campaign battleground. Flags strung between old brick buildings hung like spider webs of laundry, and motorcars blared campaign rants as minivans wound their way through narrow streets.
On election night, though, it was almost silent. At an open-air café in the historic heart of the city, Sertac Ayhan sat alone with his back to a television tuned to the polls.
The 24-year old engineering student wasn’t apathetic about the projections flashing the names and parties of candidates that had been plastered across the city for weeks. He just knew who was going to win, and he feared what it could mean for his country.
“It’s going to be a monarchy,” he said.
Ayhan’s fears proved unfounded as the ruling Justice and Development Party predictably finished as the clear victors, winning 50 percent of the vote, but didn’t score the absolute majority that would have allowed the conservative group to rewrite the Turkish constitution without opposition.
Itir Tocsoz, assistant professor of international affairs at Istanbul’s Dogus University, said the AKP’s failure to gain enough seats will force the party to work with rival political parties instead of pushing through its agenda unchecked.
“There will be more negotiations, bargaining and compromises between political parties,” she said. “There will have to be cooperation [because] if they really want to write the new constitution, they don’t have enough votes now to pass it on their own.”
While greater Istanbul was largely quiet Sunday through the election, the AKP headquarters on the edge of the Bosphorus was pulsing with celebration. Shortly after the polls closed, supporters of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s conservative party spilled into the streets honking horns, waving flags and burning flares. Inside, the mood was easy and light.
“Would you not be happy if you won?” joked Egemen Bagis, the AKP vice-chairman in charge of foreign affairs.
There was never a question regarding Erdogan’s re-election; the only uncertainty was how much of a majority the party would gain in Parliament. The Republican People's Party, or CHP, received 26 percent and the Nationalist Action Party, or MHP, earned 13 percent.
Regardless, Bagis, who is also the minister for European Union affairs and Turkey’s chief negotiator with the EU, said the AKP still plans to move forward with its promise of a new constitution to replace the one written by the military following a coup d’etat in 1980.
"We will establish the government and then we will deliver what we promised, a civilian constitution," said Bagis. "And we're hoping to work in cooperation with our opposition."
While Bagis spoke to the press inside, supporters in the streets were chanting Erdogan’s name. Children lined the edges of a huge white AKP banner, waving it up and down, forming a makeshift parachute. The party anthem echoed from the speakers above the crowd while people danced to the music, even beating drums of their own.
Onur Ata, a 24-year-old law student at Istanbul University, watched over the celebration with his group of friends.
“To see the light of the future,” he said.
The AKP’s victory was a disappointment for many who are concerned about losing civil liberties to the party’s growing conservatism. On her way into the polls to cast her vote, Ece Alkaya, a 21-year-old law student at Istanbul University, said she would be voting for the more left-leaning CHP. When asked why, she simply said “for more freedom.”
Since coming to power in 2002, the party’s pro-Islamist values have been moving toward the forefront of its social policies. Recently, the AKP began efforts to impose restrictions on the sale of alcohol, and the party plans to limit, starting in August, citizens’ access to the web. The party claims these initiatives will protect the people of Turkey, but many see it as religious imposition in a country that prides itself on secularism.
“From the secular citizens of Turkey, we have never experienced such a conservative life in our political system, from our lives and from our fathers, mothers and grandmothers,” said Hakan Gunes, a political science professor at Istanbul University.
Rival parties, such as the CHP, are concerned with the growing religiosity of the AKP, but more importantly are worried about the AKP’s consolidation of power. By law, in order to be represented in parliament, a party must receive 10 percent of the popular vote, leaving the majority of the nation’s parties without representation.
To circumnavigate this rule, smaller parties, most notably the Kurdish Peace and Freedom Party, or BDP, field independent candidates rather than running under the party. For this election, this strategy earned them about 5 percent of the seats.
"Actually most of the parties could not deal with [the 10 percent threshold]," said Gunes. "Some other groups and individuals are doing it this way, but they don't have a chance. Only the pro-Kurdish independent candidates can get enough votes to become members of parliament."
Bagis said the AKP will recognize the mandate to work with other parties toward consensus while addressing the people’s most vital needs.
"The Turkish people have spoken and their will is very clear," said Bagis. "They want us to cooperate, work together, they wanted stability, they wanted justice, they wanted development, economic prosperity. They wanted the growth to continue and we have to deliver."
By the time midnight rolled around, the crowd outside the AKP headquarters began to shrink, though a few hundred supporters continued with the festivities. A few men danced with one another while women wearing AKP baseball caps over their headscarves hung out of car windows, cheering and waving party flags.
This was how the winners celebrated. In other parts of Istanbul, far from headquarters, the streets were quiet. Whether that was due to the election results turning out as expected or outright dismay will likely not be known until the AKP tries to make the changes it has promised.
For more coverage from the Northeastern students' travels, click here. | <urn:uuid:232d7eda-552c-4902-9394-971f0cecfd48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/world/blog/2011/06/turkey-journal.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969313 | 1,419 | 1.523438 | 2 |
(This project is worth 5 points.)
In a future assignment (NOT this assignment), each student will design
and create a simple web site to be posted
on the HCC Student server.
For this project you will decide what the theme of your web
site will be (that is, what sort of content will you have in your
Automated Web design tools and/or sites such as Homestead, Geocities,
save as web page feature, FrontPage, etc.
MAY NOT be used.
Pages must be created using a text editor such Notepad,
where you type in the HTML tags and text yourself.
The purpose of this (website concept) project is to get you thinking about the subject and how you will accomplish the pages before it's too late to get it all done. You may wish to read over the directions for the website project before deciding on your concept, or check out what past students have done (last term's student website projects can also be found at the HCC Student server).
Remember that to complete the website project, it will take some time to design, collect materials, learn HTML, and construct your web pages. Then you still have to learn to use FTP and publish your files on the Website! This is why it pays to think about the topic for your website early. This way I can give feedback about any inappropriate topics before you spend a lot of time working on the website project.
You must create this HTML page using Notepad.
Rather than start completely from scratch, you can save a sample
web page and edit it using Notepad.
Here is a good sample basic HTML
page you can use.
Rename the file to
If using a lab or other public computer, save the file to removable media (flash drive). Do not save to the hard drive of a college computer. It will be deleted automatically when the computer is rebooted.
Return to Online@HCC and select
Course Tools menu.
Web Page Concept Project.
Follow the directions to select, upload and submit the
Note that projects sent as email WILL NOT
You must use this assignment
Once you complete this assignment, you will be provided with a username and password to use on the student web server, which you will use when uploading your website.
body of an HTML file
putting in a short (a sentence or two) description of what your
web site will be about.
(That is the website you will create in a later assignment; here
I just want you to tell me about the website you will create later.)
State the intended topic and perhaps something about how it
will be covered.
You must also include your name in the
Your website can be about nearly anything you want. Some of the following topics were used by others in the past:
Web sites will NOT contain any of the following:
Copyright ©2010 by Wayne Pollock | <urn:uuid:3c7eece2-da2d-4840-bbcd-0ed784cd3d04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://content.hccfl.edu/pollock/Internet/WebConcept_proj.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915518 | 603 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Development of Fortress Chains
On the American frontier semipermanent forts and stockades were built in large numbers as garrisons for troops engaged in Indian wars and as refuges for settlers. The Native Americans built forts as well. In Europe the detached fort as a support for outer defense of the fortress chain was introduced to create an entrenched camp between the citadel of the fortress and the outer edges of the defended area. The trend toward spreading the chain of defense (the enceinte) was hastened in the 19th cent. by the development of explosive shells and more effective artillery. In the second half of the 19th cent., lines of smaller forts and entrenched camps, connected by perimeter railroads, were used to encircle cities and guard strategic points on frontiers. Batteries were dispersed, artillery was placed in revolving or disappearing cupolas with subterranean bases, and pillboxes, armed with machine guns, were introduced.
This system was predominant in Europe at the beginning of World War I. However, the Belgian fortresses, which had been thought impregnable, fell with ease to the Germans in 1914, and the ring system of fortification was generally superseded during the war by trench warfare. The resistance of French concrete forts, even to the heaviest fire, seemed to offer a promise of permanent defensive fortification and inspired the construction of the Maginot Line. That elaborate system of pillboxes, forts, and underground communications was constructed at great expense.
Sections in this article:
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:e2649623-3427-4a63-b606-e3d654a9d6ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/history/fortification-development-fortress-chains.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970962 | 335 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Superworld is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983. Written by Basic Role-Playing and RuneQuest author Steve Perrin, Superworld began as one third of the Worlds of Wonder product, which also included a generic fantasy setting, "Magic World", and a generic science fiction setting, "Future World", all using the same core Basic Role-Playing rules. Only Superworld became a game in its own right.
is based on the traditional Chaosium Basic Role-Playing
system, here augmented by super-powers.
Seven characteristics (Strength, Constitution, Size, Intelligence, Power, Dexterity, Appearance) are rolled with dice (2D6+6, rather the 3d6 used for many other Basic Role-Playing games.) The sum of these characteristics gives a total of Hero Points used to buy super powers.
The super powers system follows the Champions model of powers that are described by their effects. For example, one does not buy "Laser Vision", but the effect "Energy Blast", and specifies that it is a laser emitted by the hero's eyes. Each effect can be modified by Advantages (less energy expenditure, for example) or Disadvantages (reduced number of uses, for example) which increase or reduce the cost of a power.
Hero Points can also be used to buy skills, or increase characteristics, for a super-strong character, for example. It is possible to get more Hero Points for character creation by choosing Disabilities for the character, such as Public Identity, Vulnerability to a Substance, Psychological Problems, etc. More Hero Points would be awarded for experience at the end of a game session.
The system functions in the same way as the other Basic Role-Playing games, by rolling percentile dice against skills. Lower rolls than needed can cause increased effect from Specials (equivalent to Impales in RuneQuest), or Criticals, and high rolls can cause critical failures (Fumbles). Combat rules have many options and take into account three types of energy for damage: Kinetic, Electric, and Radiation.
The game box contains three rules booklets, a booklet of character sheets, one of tables for the Gamemaster
, a page of cardboard figure silhouettes to be cut out, and a set 6, 8, and 20-sided dice
. 1984 printings also contains a 4 page errata booklet.
- The "Superheroes Book" (32 pages) contains character creation rules, the game system itself, and two character sheets with a male and female standing silhouette.
- The "Superpowers Book" (40 pages) describes the Powers available to the characters, Advantages and Disadvantages that can be applied to them, and Disabilities that can affect the character. The interior covers have two more character sheets, this time with silhouettes of a male and female in flight.
- The "Gamemasters Book" (40 pages) advises the GM on various aspects of a campaign, the legal system, animals, and the creation of organizations adapted to a superhero universe, with three specific examples: FIRE for Free Investigatory Research Enterprise, FORCE for Federal Organization for the Registration and Certification of Exotics, and the Omega Institute. The "Gamemasters Book" also includes two scenarios: "Deadly Devices of Doctor Dread", which pits a team of heroes against the Dr. Dread of the title and his subordinates, and "The Haunting", which describes a mysterious and ancient volume desired by a mystical super-villain.
Bad Medicine for Dr. Drugs
(1984) Scenario. Author: Ken Rolston. Set in a high school, and designed for teenage characters. It comes with six young pregenerated heroes, or lets players use their own. Beginning with the funeral of one of their friends, it sets the heroes on the track of a drug distribution network in their school, directed by the aforementioned Dr. Drugs.
It also includes rules for the creation and management of adolescent characters that have just discovered their powers, and a plan of Warren G. Harding High School, though the scenario recommends substituting the school in which the GM and the players studied.
(1985) Rules supplement.
Many authors: Stephen R. Marsh, Stephen Perrin, Ian Lee Starcher , Anthony Affronti, Jimmy Akin II, William A Barton, Norman Doege, Bruce Dresselhaus, Ray Greer, Zoran Kovacich, George MacDonald, Steve Maurer, Sandy Petersen, Wayne Shaw, John Sullivan -- most are listed because they provided one or more optional rules.
- new and expanded powers, limitations, and other optional rules
- guides for conversion to and from Champions and Villains and Vigilantes
- character sheets covering two pages instead of one: with a male or female silhouette
- a description of the effects of the climate on the play (natural or caused by powers)
- "Project Superhero", a detailed base (site, plans, personnel) for Superworld and Champions, and rules for Danger Rooms
Trouble for HAVOC
(1984) Scenario / Campaign.
Authors: Stephen Perrin, Yurek Chodak, Donald Harrington, Charles Huber.
A linked collection of three scenarios based around the members of the criminal organization HAVOC. All the characters are presented with characteristics for with three different systems, Superworld
and Villains & Vigilantes
. Each may be played separately, or as part of a campaign.
- "Crisis At Calliente" introduces HAVOC. The heroes are called to dislodge a group of villains from a nuclear reactor.
- "Return of the Elokians" includes a call for help, an earthquake, a confrontation with the villain King Snake, whose henchmen include members of HAVOC, and a lost world cavern occupied by a race facing extinction.
- "Fourth for Bridge?" is set in Antarctica, where several teams of super-beings -- Americans, Russians, and a team from HAVOC -- each try be the first to the wreck of a spaceship landed in the ice. It is possible to play any team, or even play two or three teams in parallel if there are enough players. Pre-generated characters are proposed for each team but the players are free to substitute their usual characters.
The Wild Cards
series of science fiction
books came from an Albuquerque, New Mexico
by George R. R. Martin
, and played in by other science fiction writers. | <urn:uuid:893df48b-e125-40ba-92ff-5733f6ac982c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Superworld | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929014 | 1,335 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Another bad mark for Chinese-made products is this news I came across a few weeks ago about toxic Chinese-made dry wall.
According to advocacy group America's Watchdog, toxic imported Chinese dry wall are being discovered all over the state of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and New Orleans. Some of the signs that a house (especially that was built or remodeled in 2005 to 2008) has the potentially toxic imported Chinese dry wall include the following:
- The house has a strong or noticeable smell of sulphur or rotten eggs.
- The home has experienced repeated air conditioning coil issues or corrosion
- The home's occupants have experienced upper respiratory issues, nose bleeds, or other medical issues.
- Young children or senior citizens may be the first to show signs of exposure to a home with the imported Chinese dry wall.
"We think we are going to end up with 25,000 to 50,000 US homes with the imported toxic Chinese dry wall. If you even think you smell sulphur or rotten eggs in a house built, or remodeled between 2005 and 2008, in Florida, New Orleans, the West Coast, the East Coast, anywhere, please call us immediately at 866-714-6466 or contact us via our web site at http://HomeownersConsumerCenter.Com."I actually remembered to dig up this information after watching a news segment from Brian William's Nightly News last night. You can watch that segment below. | <urn:uuid:49884e67-493f-42e5-a491-cbd758c04e31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icis.com/blogs/green-chemicals/2009/03/chinese-drywall-in-the-spotlig.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931155 | 296 | 1.546875 | 2 |
NetApp, which engages in the design and manufacturing of networked storage solutions, and supplies enterprise storage and data management software and hardware, has been hit just like other companies in this sector by the flooding in Thailand last fall. The natural disaster has disrupted supply chains and caused a shortage of disc drives within the industry.
Looking at the basic numbers, NetApp is currently off its 52-week high of 61.02 by approximately 39 percent. The one-year chart shows the August/September 2011 slump typical of most stock charts from that volatile period. However, recovery has been slow for NetApp. The stock showed an upward trend until the flooding situation put a damper on operations and profit.
The company addressed the issue in a press release from Jan. 5, 2012 which stated:
“We work closely with our hard disk drive suppliers to stay abreast of their recovery efforts and to secure supply to meet our needs. However, similar to other vendors we have seen a negative impact to our drive costs. While we initially absorbed the cost increases to protect our partners and customers, we are no longer able to do so. Effective February 6, 2012, we will be temporarily increasing HDD list prices 5-15% over current pricing. We will continue to monitor the situation as it evolves and will provide updates as appropriate.”
Product price increases are always risky and create incentives for customers to shop around for better deals elsewhere.
From the balance sheet perspective, NetApp looks more than solid with $4.64 billion of cash on hand, operating cash flow of $1.42 billion, and total debt of $1.18 billion. The company reported net income of $165 million as last quarter ending Oct. 28, 2011.
During that most recent earnings report, revenues reported for the first six months of fiscal year 2012 totaled $2.97 billion compared to revenues of $2.4 billion for the first six months of the prior fiscal year, an increase of 23% year-over-year. Earnings per share were slightly off though showing second-quarter 2012 GAAP net income at $165.6 million, or $0.44 per share compared to GAAP net income of $175.4 million, or $0.45 per share for the same period a year ago. The company also claimed non-GAAP income figures and earnings which pushed the earnings per share up to $1.17 per share for the first six months of fiscal year 2012 compared with non-GAAP earnings of $1.05 per share for the same period of the previous fiscal year. But ballyhooing earnings based on non-GAAP practices seems questionable at best.
Looking forward, the company estimates that revenue for third-quarter 2012 will fall between $1.52 billion and $1.61 billion which would generate 18-25% year-over-year revenue growth. Third-quarter 2012 estimates came in at 0.36-.40 cents a share, significantly less than the second quarter.
This does jive with what analysts are saying about the industry. Both Gartner and IDC report that personal computer sales were down in the last quarter of 2011, due to competitors like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). IDC researchers call a worst case scenario as a possible drop of 20 percent in PC shipment forecasts for the first quarter of 2012 because of the Thailand flooding.
Stacked up against the industry, NetApp is nearly aligned with industry averages. Its P/E of 24.38 is higher than the industry average of 20.79, and its PEG ratio is good at 1.05 compared to the industry ratio of 1.31. Competitor EMC has a higher trailing PE at 23.91 and a PEG of .90.
The next NetApp earnings report is scheduled for February 15. Until then it’s difficult to know how the supply chain disruption has interfered with profit margins, and going forward how price increases will influence customer decisions. There seems too much uncertainty surrounding the industry right now for value investors.
About the author:I am primarily an investor interested in creating passive income streams through dividends. I focus on finding and analyzing dividend paying stocks, MLPs and REITs that are a good fit for income investors.
I practice Judaism and my faith is very important to me. I visit family in Israel once a year, but I am educated and work in the United States where I hold an MBA and a bachelor’s in English. I am a patient man, enjoy wine but am not a connoisseur, and I listen more than I speak. | <urn:uuid:e7be1f41-a54d-4075-a40e-d280524b6906> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gurufocus.com/news/161845/netapp-value-investors-should-stay-away | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959568 | 943 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The ruling will remove decades-old limits on the amount corporations can spend on campaign ads and repeals part of McCain-Feingold, which prohibited advertising within the last days of an election.
It was a 5-4 decision, written by Kennedy. Stevens wrote the dissent, joined by Sotomayor, Ginsburg, and Breyer.
The court on Thursday overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for campaign ads. The decision almost certainly will also allow labor unions to participate more freely in campaigns and threatens similar limits imposed by 24 states.
The justices also struck down part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that barred union- and corporate-paid issue ads in the closing days of election campaigns.
Opponents of campaign finance reform and fans of the First Amendment are rejoicing. Others are frightened of the influx of free speech from corporations and unions in a mid-term election year.
The AP notes that the ruling may affect similar limits set in 24 states, and Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSBlog observes: "The decision presumably applies equally to state and local elections, given that the Court recognizes a 1st Amendment right."
The case stemmed from a movie critical of then-pres. candidate Hillary Clinton, which the FEC said violated the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as McCain-Feingold. The FEC argued the movie violated section 203 of BCRA, which prohibits corporations and unions from using non-PAC money in ads that mention a candidate for office, and sections 201 and 311, which set up disclosure requirements.
Reform advocates were disheartened when the Court refused to rule on the case last term, when it was originally argued. Instead, justices asked for a rehearing in order to consider whether the Court should overrule two previously settled cases as well. Those cases, McConnell v. FEC and Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce, were victories for reformers -- victories that were snatched away today.
On Wednesday, the Court overturned Austin, as well as a part of McConnell that placed restrictions on independent expenditures by corporations.
SCOTUSwiki has a very in-depth look at the case, here.
The full opinion is here (PDF).
Kennedy: "The Government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements, but it may not suppress that speech altogether."
** Disclosure requirement: Any corporation that spends more than $10,000 in a year to produce or air the kind of election season ad covered by federal restrictions must file a report with the Federal Election Commission revealing the names and addresses of anyone who contributed $1,000 or more to the ad’s preparation or distribution.
** Disclaimer requirement: If a political ad is not authorized by a candidate or a political committee, the broadcast of the ad must say who is responsible for its content, plus the name and address of the group behind the ad.
Update: From the opinion:
"The First Amendment does not permit laws that force speakers to retain a campaign finance attorney, conduct demographic marketing research, or seek declaratory rulings before discussing the most salient political issues of our day...
The Government may not render a ban on political speech constitutional by carving out a limited exemption through an amorphous regulatory interpretation."
While some means of communication may be less effective than others at influencing the public in different contexts, any effort by the Judiciary to decide which means of communications are to be preferred for the particular type of message and speaker would raise questions as to the courts’ own lawful authority. Substantial questions would arise if courts were to begin saying what means of speech should be preferred or disfavored. And in all events, those differentiations might soon prove to be irrelevant or outdated by technologies that are in rapid flux...
Courts, too, are bound by the First Amendment. We must decline to draw, and then redraw, constitutional lines based on the particular media or technology used to disseminate political speech from a particular speaker. It must be noted, moreover, that this undertaking would require substantial litigation over an extended time, all to interpret a law that beyond doubt discloses serious First Amendment flaws. The interpretive process itself would create an inevitable, pervasive, and serious risk of chilling protected speech pending the drawing of fine distinctions that, in the end, would themselves be questionable. First
Amendment standards, however, “must give the benefit of any doubt to protecting rather than stifling speech.” | <urn:uuid:2f4db143-3f46-498f-951c-90eefc24851c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/blogs/citizens-united-scotus-rolls-back-corporate-campaign-spending-limits?nopager=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960854 | 923 | 1.945313 | 2 |
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
P.O. Box O
Socorro, NM 87801
EMBARGOED For Release: 9:30 a.m., CST, Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Dave Finley, Public Information Officer
A new series of short radio programs designed to bring the space-age science of radio astronomy down to Earth is being launched by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and Allegheny Mountain Radio. The series, called Cosmic Radio, covers topics ranging from exciting recent scientific discoveries to how radio telescopes help explore the Universe, to the fascinating history of radio astronomy.
"The discoveries and history of radio astronomy include many exciting stories, and Cosmic Radio will bring those stories to listeners across the country," said Sue Ann Heatherly, the NRAO Education Officer in Green Bank, West Virginia, and co-producer of the series. Gibbs Kinderman, of Allegheny Mountain Radio, the other co-producer, added, "The subject matter is fascinating, and we did a lot of work making the complex topics comprehensible even to a science dummy like me."
Cosmic Radio includes 26 self-contained radio programs, each
2.5 minutes in length, explaining some aspect of radio astronomy.
Produced with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the programs are available to all radio stations at no cost. The programs have been provided on CD to more than 500 NPR-affiliated stations, and will be available through a Web site that will be updated with a new program each week.
The Web site is at:
Station managers who wish to use Cosmic Radio programs on the air will find contact information on the Web site.
NRAO Senior Scientist Felix "Jay" Lockman, a leading researcher at the NRAO Green Bank, West Virginia, observatory, served as scientific advisor to Cosmic Radio, and West Virginia Public Broadcasting veteran and news host Beth Vorhees is narrator.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation, operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. | <urn:uuid:8445ddc8-2f86-4665-b28f-eb3ac3bb62cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nrao.edu/pr/2008/cosmicradio/index-p.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907368 | 424 | 2.625 | 3 |
I'd like to know what you think about the approach he advocates and how and why should we reject it to follow a Buddhist path? Is the peace one experiences through meditation just a 'security blanket' which is self-decieving? I know there is no straightforward answer to this but I'd appreciate your views.
I have listened to the talk you posted and read a bit of Dawkins in the past but I am not exactly clear on what the "approach" he advocates is. His critique is very simple and not all that helpful. The religious inclinations of people are an easy target of ridicule and yet there they remain. I do not expect people like Dawkins to make much if any impact on their lives. I am not at all impressed. This does not mean that I disagree. This about covers it for me.
May all beings make whatever movement they can however small towards happiness. May their happiness support and sustain a momentum towards the ending of all the causes of unhappiness. May all beings know the freedom which arises from direct knowledge of the eternal truth. | <urn:uuid:1c781d32-aa40-4d40-8a51-7da4671d8460> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=46722 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972704 | 215 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Israelis can't resist following the the occupation's pied piper
At the heart of the debate over the settlements there was always this question: Whose side are we on - that of the Palestinian subjects of the occupation, or that of the state that oppresses them?
In Ra'anan Alexandrowicz's documentary film "The Law in These Parts," former Supreme Court President Meir Shamgar is presented as the person who removed, with one decision, the legal obstacle to settlement on Jordanian lands. In doing so, Shamgar created a situation in which no peaceful solution to the conflict with the Palestinians is visible on the horizon. Shamgar does not come out of it looking good. Moreover, he doesn't quite remember the crucial decision. But Shamgar is no fool, and one sentence he says in the film is worth recalling: Why are you blaming the judicial system for what the political system did?
Shamgar was right. It's not the judicial system that can really muzzle the ox while he is threshing. We saw that with former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, if we didn't realize it with President Aharon Barak.
Alexandrowicz burrowed into something we are all supposed to have in our personal and journalistic memory. None of these issues has been a secret in the past four decades and, in addition, throughout all these years there have always been people who have spoken of the disaster awaiting us as a result of the settlement policy. We should also recall that Yigal Allon, then the deputy prime minister and education minister, handed over the keys to the settlement in Hebron as far back as 1967. He gave them to a frisky messianic group led by a rabbi who wouldn't have eaten at the same table as Allon, but Hebron linked those two, ostensibly in the name of a religious text.
Later came Shimon Peres. He also wanted to help and, as defense minister, nurtured the settlers of Sebastia. All under the aegis of the ideology of the Greater Israel movement, which in its first leaflet wrote: "No government in Israel has the right to give up Greater Israel." This antidemocratic text was not written by Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, nor by Rabbi Haim Druckman. This platform - on which Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir was raised - was written by secular poets and generals in an orgy for which none of them has begged forgiveness.
Nor should we falsely blame everything on the ideological basis of that same bizarre movement. Nor on the petty politicians who participated in this bloody adventure. Even Rabin, who was afraid to get rid of the Hebron settlers on Purim in 1994 after the massacre in the Tomb of the Patriarchs, and fell victim to a gunslinger in the service of ideology formulated by his friends and teachers - even he is not central to the story.
What is central is the state itself, as described by Akiva Eldar and Idith Zertal in their book "Lords of the Land: The War for Israel's Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007." The state - which from the very beginning of the occupation did not cease to conspire and to sabotage the chances of establishing a Palestinian state.
It is not only the state that lies behind all this, but everyone who refused to oppose its actions. Because at the heart of the debate over the settlements there was always this question: Whose side are we on - that of the Palestinian subjects of the occupation, or that of the state that oppresses them? Israelis - no matter what the ethical question confronting them - cannot resist following the piper and his patriotic tune.
The most pertinent question about the future was directed to Minister Allon in 1972 by an 11th-grader: What do you suggest that students our age in Nablus do? Allon spoke about peace of course but made no suggestions, because he was opposed to a Palestinian state. Then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, it was said, sent a clearer message: They'll live a dog's life.
Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti is in prison. When he is released, just as Nelson Mandela was released, what will they say to him - all those who remained silent when the last piece of Palestinian land became "indivisible," except after great bloodshed? | <urn:uuid:5459a373-d821-4911-9383-27b6b51cb6b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/israelis-can-t-resist-following-the-the-occupation-s-pied-piper-1.422260 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981392 | 906 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Moving out for the first time should be a fun and rewarding experience. However it can also be a dangerous financial trap if you are not properly prepared to deal with the host of new responsibilities you will be confronted with. Absorb the financial advice to below to better equip yourself for successfully navigating the journey of renting your first apartment.
Have 3 months living expenses resting in a savings account
There's a rather frightening statistic being ushered in hushed tones by the masses that the majority of us are only about 2 pay cheques away from living on the streets. The financial data to support this claim is not clearly documented but it still outlines the importance of preparing yourself for the possibility of losing your source of income at some point. Job security is never a certainty and in the current financial climate sudden mass lay-offs are not that uncommon. By having a 3 month savings margin you have created a time buffer that will allow you to continue paying your rent and food bills while you look for new employment.
Choose room mates with a reliable track record (if possible)
While this is not always possible it is a good idea to get an idea of the people you will be moving in along side. Even close friends will encounter some difficulties if they are sharing a living space together, so it makes sense to ensure that at least the financial aspect of your room mate's obligations will be met consistently and in good time. It should also be noted that it often only takes one unruly house mate to ensure that no member of the household will ever see their deposit cheque returned by the landlord.
Create a realistic budget then stick to it
The ability to successfully budget is one of the primary skills you must learn to survive when fending for yourself. This involves creating a detailed food budget – which will be your biggest expense outside of your rent payment. Shop around online to find the best offers for the products you need and consider buying long lasting foods that are currently on offer in bulk quantities to make significant savings.
Plan out your annual bills to reduce unexpected payments
You will have much more than simply your rent and food to be paying for. You should be aware of the average quarterly electric and gas bills in your area unless you are using a 'top up' card payment method for these utilities, which allow you to pay small top up amounts of cash as and when you need to. This style of payment allows you to keep tabs on the amount being spent on the utilities much better than one bill every 3 months does, so consider a switch to this payment method to reduce surprises.
It would also be prudent to remember the annual television license payment for example, which currently requires you to part with over £145 of your hard earned cash in the UK. Make a note of the various payments that you will encounter as the year progresses to enable yourself to properly budget your overall finances for these eventual hits on your wallet.
About the writer
Todd McCullough is an independent blogger and finance researcher. He writes financial advice and money saving themed articles for financing and loan websites such as www.wongabusiness.com. | <urn:uuid:dd45c448-0643-4603-8dd3-802b1a501a7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/headline_news/2013/03/01/5474.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958876 | 623 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Fabulous Florida Keys... Vacation In Paradise:
Also known as paradise, the Florida Keys stretch for 126
miles over sparkling crystal blue and emerald green water, with Florida Bay and
then the Gulf of Mexico on one side, and the Atlantic on the other. By land, they are not
just a few isolated islands, but a beautiful chain of more than 50 tropical
isles, connected to the Florida mainland and to each other by 42 scenic bridges.
As you travel the Florida Keys by
automobile you will come to appreciate the green and white
mile markers (MM) on US-HWY 1. The best way to get around is to know the mile
marker of your destination. These roadside markers tell you how far you are from
Key West from anywhere in the Keys. The mile marker numbers begin with 127
(south of Florida City) and end with 0 in Key West - the Southernmost city in
the United States. Addresses and maps often include MM for easier location. If
you know the mile marker of where you're going, getting there is easy!
Choose Your Vacation
the Florida Keys has its own personality and charm. Starting from the North,
Mile Markers 118-90.7, is the home of the nationís first underwater park, John Pennekamp
Coral Reef State Park, and the adjacent Key Largo Marine Sanctuary.
Village of Islands, Mile Markers 90.7-63, is known as the Sport Fishing Capital of the
World. As you continue south, youíll pass a number of sparsely populated islands
such as Long Key, Duck Key, and Grassy Key. Then comes
Marathon, MM 63-47, a
more developed island, which is known as the Heart of the Florida Keys.
South of the seven mile bridge you will find The Lower Keys, MM 47-4, which
includes Big Pine Key, home of the endangered Key deer--tiny deer that stand about
21/2 feet tall, Bahia Honda State Park, and The Looe Key National Marine
Sanctuary, a popular diving spot. Last stop is historic
Key West, MM
oldest city. It is a busy seaport known for its architecture, museums,
galleries, restaurants, and, of course, those famous sunset celebrations at | <urn:uuid:166c5fb6-8db7-4905-956a-9f03985eca40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.floridakeys-hotels.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9224 | 489 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Identify any fragments in the following "sentences." Keep in mind that a sentence must have a subject, have a verb, and express a complete thought.
Remember that the "ing" form of a verb is not a true verb unless it is preceded by a helping verb.
Remember that the "to" form of the verb (the infinitive) is not a verb.
The following selection was adapted from Terry Kay's To Dance with the White Dog.
1. On the day after his father was buried. Fragment
2. James drove to the cementery in the pink-blue glaze of dawn.
3. The plot was still crowded with wreaths of flowers.
4. Flowers with bright, colorful faces and ribbon sashes. Fragment
5. And the white, mica-sand covering of the ground was pockmarked where people had stood for the gravesite services.
6. And where chairs had been placed for the family. Fragment
7. James stood at the foot of the graves of his parents and his brother.
8. A brother he had not known. Fragment
9. A brother dead before his own birth. Fragment
10. And stared at the shadowed sand mounds. Fragment
11. Nothing was as permanent.
12. He turned and looked across the cementery.
13. His father had said the white dog would be there.
14. To look for the white dog at sunrise. Fragment
15. His father had said the white dog was his mother.
16. His father was wrong; there was no white dog at the cemetery.
17. Suddenly, a chill struck his neck and raced across his shoulders.
18. He could feel his heart racing.
19. His eyes scanning the cemetery. Fragment
20. James walked into the plot, between the grave mounds of his mother and father, and he knelt.
21. Then he saw them.
22. Across the chest of sand on the grave of Robert Samuel Peek. Fragment
23. He saw the paw prints.
24. Prints so light that they could have been made by air. Fragment
Return to List of Exercises
Return to Writing Lab Home Page | <urn:uuid:263ca50a-9393-4761-9e5d-c86e865c6045> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.daltonstate.edu/writing-lab/writing-lab-practice-exercises/FragPractice2Key.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985362 | 472 | 3.34375 | 3 |
This is what the original statue of Our Lady of Walsingham may have looked like after it was dragged to London in 1539, by Royal Decree, to be burned on Chelsea Old Bridge, along with the statues of Our Lady of Glastonbury, Doncaster and Coventry. The statue of Our Lady Vulnerata (wounded), originally in the Jesuit church in Cadiz was broken and spoiled there by English soldiers of Drake's warring squadron in 1586. It is now enshrined above the high altar in the English College, Valladolid, where she is honoured weekly, and annually with her own Feast Day. Smashed up as it is, this is the image of she who, as B16 has said, opened up the windows of the world to let the light in. Not surprisingly she is honoured still by many.
But in one long slow blow England went from being part of a Universal Communion to become a religion of museum culture and of shopping. Yet still the Holy Spirit insists on our company, and during this Advent there "are those whose interior sensitivity enables them to see and hear the subtle signs that God sends into the world to break the dictatorship of convention." (B16, "Jesus of Nazareth) The Festival of Consumption is almost over. Keep watch! | <urn:uuid:4f035c70-408f-405c-95a2-1cb4abde01ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://friendswithchrist.blogspot.com/2007/12/this-is-what-original-statue-of-our.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974543 | 263 | 2.578125 | 3 |
As I walked to chemistry, ten minutes late for the millionth time this semester, I came to a realization: Life would be a whole lot easier if I were on time. Likewise, wouldn’t life be easier if you always remember where you put your keys? What if dishes and homework never got stacked up and completed themselves?
Life would be easy.
Life would be boring.
I cannot imagine everyday with no conflict. What would that even be like?Like life, conflict is essential for healthy novels. Have you ever read a book about a happy little girl with a perfect life where nothing ever goes wrong?
No? If she’s happy and conflict free--there is no book.
Four important points to conflict:
1. The problems have to be real. It needs to be something the reader cares about. Adjust this for the readers. Five year olds care about lost kittens. Teenagers care about man-eating kittens.
2. The conflict should not be resolved immediately. Simple solutions are boring and don’t allow for much growth. Don’t make it easy for your characters.
3. Don’t go overboard. Too much drama is melodrama. If there is more death and tragic accidents in your novel than mosquitoes in Florida, then it might be a bit much. Too much drama is, in fact, a bad thing.
4. The stakes have to be high. The conflict must leave the readers at the edge of their seat--unable to satisfy the primal needs of hunger and sleep until the problem is resolved.
A novel without conflict is like a pencil without lead. What’s the point?
Enjoy life’s little catastrophes: the spilled ketchup and the lost socks. At least it’s not dull. | <urn:uuid:cddf9650-25f0-4a51-9840-049dcb0507a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jessicalfoster.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950461 | 373 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth's crust. It has no characteristic taste or smell. Metallic lead does not dissolve in water and does not burn. Lead can combine with other chemicals to form what are usually known as lead compounds or lead salts. Some lead salts dissolve in water better than others. Some natural and manufactured substances contain lead but do not look like lead in its metallic form. Some of these substances can burn - for example, organic lead compounds in some gasolines.
Lead has many different uses. Its most important use is in the production of some types of
batteries. It is also used in the production of ammunition, in some kinds of metal products (such as sheet lead, solder, some brass and bronze products, and pipes) and in ceramic glazes. Some chemicals containing lead, such as tetraethyl lead and tetramethyl lead, were once used as gasoline additives to increase octane rating. However, their use was phased out in the 1980s, and lead was banned for use in gasoline for transportation beginning January 1, 1996. Other chemicals containing lead are used in paint. The amount of lead added to paints and ceramic products, caulking, gasoline, and solder has also been reduced in recent years to minimize lead's harmful effects on people and animals. Lead used in ammunition, which is the largest non-battery end-use, has remained fairly constant in recent years. Lead is used in a large variety of medical equipment (radiation shields for protection against X-rays, electronic ceramic parts of ultrasound machines, intravenous pumps, fetal monitors, and surgical equipment). Lead is also used in scientific equipment (circuit boards for computers and other electronic circuitry) and military equipment (jet turbine engine blades, military tracking systems).
Most lead used by industry comes from mined ores ("primary") or from recycled scrap metal or batteries ("secondary"). Human activities (such as use of "leaded" gasoline) have spread lead and substances that contain lead to all parts of the environment. For example, lead is in air, drinking water, rivers, lakes, oceans, dust, and soil. Lead is also in plants and animals that people may eat.
Fate & Transport
Lead occurs naturally in the environment. However, most of the high levels found throughout the environment comes from human activities. Before the use of leaded gasoline was banned, most of the lead released into the U.S. environment came from car exhaust. In 1979, cars released 94.6 million kilograms (kg; 1 kg equals 2.2 pounds) of lead into the air in the United States. In 1989, when the use of lead was limited but not banned, cars released only 2.2 million kg to the air. Since EPA banned the use of leaded gasoline for highway transportation in 1996, the amount of lead released into the air has decreased further. Other sources of lead released to the air include burning fuel, such as coal or oil, industrial processes, and burning solid waste. Once lead goes into the atmosphere, it may travel thousands of miles if the lead particles are small or if the lead compounds easily evaporate. Lead is removed from the air by rain and by particles falling to the ground or into surface water.
The release of lead to air is now less than the release of lead to land. Most of the lead in inner city soils comes from old houses painted with paint containing lead and previous automotive exhaust emitted when gasoline contained lead. Landfills may contain waste from lead ore mining, ammunition manufacturing, or other industrial activities such as battery production.
Sources of lead in dust and soil include lead that falls to the ground from the air, and weathering and chipping of lead-based paint from buildings and other structures. Lead in dust may also come from windblown soil. Disposal of lead in municipal and hazardous waste dump sites may also add lead to soil. Mining wastes that have been used for sandlots, driveways, and roadbeds can also be sources of lead.
Higher levels of lead in soil can be measured near roadways. This accumulation came from car exhaust in the past. Once lead falls onto soil, it usually sticks to soil particles. Small amounts of lead may enter rivers, lakes, and streams when soil particles are moved by rainwater. Lead may remain stuck to soil particles in water for many years. Movement of lead from soil particles into underground water or drinking water is unlikely unless the water is acidic or "soft". Movement of lead from soil will also depend on the type of lead salt or compound and on the physical and chemical characteristics of the soil.
Sources of lead in surface water or sediment include deposits of lead-containing dust from the atmosphere, waste water from industries that handle lead (primarily iron and steel industries and lead producers), urban runoff, and mining piles.
Some of the chemicals that contain lead are broken down by sunlight, air, and water to other forms of lead. Lead compounds in water may combine with different chemicals depending on the acidity and temperature of the water. Lead itself cannot be broken down.
The levels of lead may build up in plants and animals from areas where air, water, or soil are contaminated with lead. If animals eat contaminated plants or animals, most of the lead that they eat will pass through their bodies.
People living near hazardous waste sites may be exposed to lead and chemicals that contain lead by breathing air, drinking water, eating foods, or swallowing or touching dust or dirt that contains lead. For people who do not live near hazardous waste sites, most exposure to lead may occur in several ways: (1) by eating foods or drinking water that contain lead, (2) by spending time in areas where leaded paints have been used and are deteriorating, (3) by working in jobs where lead is used, (4) by using health-care products or folk remedies that contain lead, and (5) by having hobbies in which lead may be used such as sculpting (lead solder) and staining glass.
Foods such as fruits, vegetables, meats, grains, seafood, soft drinks, and wine may have lead in them. Cigarette smoke also contains small amounts of lead. Lead gets into food from water during cooking and into foods and beverages from dust that contains lead falling onto crops, from plants absorbing lead that is in the soil, and from dust that contains lead falling onto food during processing. Lead may also enter foods if they are put into improperly glazed pottery or ceramic dishes and from leaded-crystal glassware. Illegal whiskey made using stills that contain lead-soldered parts (such as truck radiators) may also contain lead. The amount of lead found in canned foods decreased 87% from 1980 to 1988, which indicates that the chance of exposure to lead in canned food from lead-soldered containers has been greatly reduced. Lead may also be released from soldered joints in kettles used to boil water for beverages.
In general, very little lead is found in lakes, rivers, or groundwater used to supply the public with drinking water. More than 99 percent of all publicly supplied drinking water contains less than 0.005 part of lead per million parts of water (ppm). However, the amount of lead taken into your body through drinking water can be higher in communities with acidic water supplies. Acidic water makes it easier for the lead found in pipes, leaded solder, and brass faucets to enter water. Public water treatment systems are now required to used control measures to make water less acidic. Sources of lead in drinking water include lead that can come out of lead pipes, faucets, and leaded solder used in plumbing. Plumbing that contains lead may be found in public drinking water systems, and in houses, apartment buildings, and public buildings that are more than twenty years old.
Breathing in or swallowing airborne dust and dirt that have lead in them is another way you can be exposed. In 1984, burning leaded gasoline was the single largest source of lead emissions. Very little lead in the air comes from gasoline now because EPA has banned its use in gasoline. Other sources of lead in the air include releases to the air from industries involved in iron and steel production, lead-acid battery manufacturing, and non-ferrous (brass and bronze) foundries. Lead released into air may also come from burning of solid lead-containing waste, windblown dust, volcanoes, exhaust from workroom air, burning or weathering of lead-painted surfaces, fumes from leaded gasoline, and cigarette smoke.
Skin contact with dust and dirt containing lead occurs every day. Some cosmetics and hair dyes contain lead compounds. However, not much lead can get into your body through your skin. Leaded gasoline contains a lead compound that may be quickly absorbed.
In the home, you or your children may be exposed to lead if you take some types of home remedy medicines that contain lead comounds. Lead compounds are in some non-Western cosmetics, such as surma and kohl. Some types of hair colorants and dyes contain lead acetate. Read the labels on hair coloring products, use them with caution, and keep them away from children.
People who are exposed at work are usually exposed by breathing in air that contains lead particles. Exposure to lead occurs in many jobs. People who work in lead smelting and refining industries, brass/bronze foundries, rubber products and plastics industries, soldering, steel welding and cutting operations, battery manufacturing plants, and lead compound manufacturing industries may be exposed to lead. Construction workers and people who work at municipal waste incinerators, pottery and ceramics industries, radiator repair shops, and other industries that use lead solder may also be exposed. Between 0.5 and 1.5 million workers are exposed to lead in the workplace. In California alone over 200,000 workers are exposed to lead. Families of workers may be exposed to higher levels of lead when workers bring home lead dust on their work clothes.
You may also be exposed to lead in the home if you work with stained glass as a hobby, make lead fishing weights or ammunition, or if you are involved in home renovation that involves the removal of old lead-based paint.
Some of the lead that enters your body comes from breathing in dust or chemicals that contain lead. Once this lead gets into your lungs, it goes quickly to other parts of the body in your blood.
You may swallow lead by eating food and drinking liquids that contain it, and also by swallowing large particles (diameter greater than 5 micrometers; 1 micrometer is one millionth of a meter). Most of the lead that enters your body comes through swallowing, even though very little of the amount you swallow actually enters your blood and other parts of your body. In addition to the lead that may be present in food and drink, accidental ingestion of lead may occur due to skin contamination while eating, drinking, smoking, or applying cosmetics (including lip balm). The amount that gets into your body from your stomach partially depends on when you ate your last meal. It also depends on how old you are and how well the lead particles you ate dissolved in your stomach juices. Experiments using adult volunteers showed that, for adults who had just eaten, the amount of lead that got into the body from the stomach was only about six percent of the total amount taken in. In adults who had not eaten for a day, about sixty to eighty percent of the lead from the stomach got into their blood. In general, if adults and children swallow the same amount of lead, a bigger proportion of the amount swallowed will enter the blood in children than in adults.
Dust and soil that contain lead may get on your skin, but only a small portion of the lead will pass through your skin and enter your body if it is not washed off. More lead can pass through skin than has been damaged (for example by scrapes, scratches, and wounds). The only kinds of lead compounds that easily penetrate the skin are the additives in leaded gasoline, which is no longer sold to the general public. Therefore, the general public is not likely to encounter lead that can enter through the skin.
Shortly after lead gets into your body, it travels in the blood to the soft tissues, (such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, brain, spleen, muscles, and heart). After several weeks, most of the lead moves into your bones and teeth. In adults, about 94 percent of the total amount of lead in the body is contained in the bones and teeth. About 73 percent of the lead in children's bodies is stored in their bones. Some of the lead can stay in your bones for decades; however, some lead can leave your bones and reenter your blood and organs under certain circumstances, for example, during pregnancy and periods of breast feeding, after a bone is broken, and during advancing age.
Your body does not change lead into any other form. Once it is taken in and distributed to your organs, the lead that is not stored in your bones leaves your body in your urine or your feces. About 99 percent of the amount of lead taken into the body of an adult will leave in the waste within a couple of weeks, but only about 32 percent of the lead taken into the body of a child will leave in the waste. Under conditions of continued exposure, not all the lead that enters the body will be eliminated, and this may result in accumulation of lead in body tissues, notably bone.
The effects of lead are the same whether it enters the body through breathing or swallowing. The main target for lead toxicity is the nervous system, both in adults and in children. Long-term exposure of adults to lead at work has resulted in decreased performance in some tests that measure functions of the nervous system. Lead exposure may also cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. Some studies in humans have suggested that lead exposure may increase blood pressure, but the evidence is inconclusive. Lead exposure may also cause anemia, a low number of blood cells. The connection between the occurrence of some of these effects (e.g., increased blood pressure, altered function of the nervous system) and low levels of exposure to lead is not certain. At high levels of exposure, lead can severely damage the brain and kidneys in adults or children. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to lead may cause miscarriage. High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for sperm production.
We have no proof that lead causes cancer in humans. Kidney tumors have developed in rats and mice given large doses of lead. The animal studies have been criticized because of the very high doses used. The results of high-dose studies should not be used to predict whether lead may cause cancer in humans. The Department of Health and Human Services has determined that lead acetate and lead phosphate may reasonably be anticipated to be capable of causing cancer, based on sufficient evidence from animal studies, but there is inadequate evidence from human studies.
Information excerpted from
Toxicological Profile for Lead April 1993 Update and
Toxicological Profile for Lead July 1999 Update
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
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